Farewell to Arms
by Laze0
Summary: It's been years since the end of the Second War Games. Now the world of Marchen is ready for peace. Yet, a new obstacle stands in their way. Caldia has decided to reclaim the arms they long ago gave and now the land must decide- to surrender or to fight.
1. A New Threat

Yo. What's up? New story (obviously). First Mar story. (cue the applause). No no you're too kind. o-o

Anyways, the story will be the thrid war games and the possibility of amrs going bye bye for good. Read and Review alright. I find I work faster if I'm rushed.

Disclaimer- not mine unless the author wants to sell it

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It seemed like déjà vu. Just a few years ago, the people of Marchen have experienced the horrors of war. They have defeated the Chess Pieces in the War Games with the help of the Otherworlder Ginta. Now it seemed like the peace they have earned was about to end.

"People of Mar heaven. Please listen to me. I don't have much time. Caldia has declared war. You must gather your forces and prepare for the attack!" a familiar voice said.

The voice belonged to one of the most well-known people in Mar heaven. Her trademark black witch's robe, her braided blonde hair, and her confidence identified her. The image the people of Mar heaven saw on the moon, courtesy of the dark reflector ἅrm, was different from what they expected. Her robes tattered, her hair a mess, and her voice weak, she seemed so different from what they remembered. Yet they knew better than to ignore the warning.

Within hours, the most powerful fighters gathered in anticipation for the coming attack. Among them were war legends. In the Cross Guard army, Alan, Gaira, and Alviss stood by the sides of their king and princess. The princess Snow herself was a veteran of the war. Though dressed in a long blue dress, she would not be participating in the fighting. In stark contrast to her, the three veterans were dressed in white armor and battle ready. Right now though, these people were gathered in the king's throne room, formulating a plan.

"Alviss. What do you make of Dorothy's warning?" Gaira asked the young soldier.

Alviss shook his head, "I wish it wasn't true but she would not lie about this."

"It could have been a fake aiming to throw Mar heaven into chaos once more. Saying that the birthplace of ἅrms would declare war on us would serve that purpose well," Gaira offered.

"No. The Dark Reflector is a very rare ἅrm only Peta of the Chess used. Dorothy said the only other copy rested in Caldia. And with Phantom teleporting the body to who knows where, we have to assume the message was real," Alan dismissed the idea.

Alviss looked deep in thought, "Still though, for Caldia to raise an army against us is too fantastic of an idea. They were our allies in the last War Games."

"Maybe they want something and if we give them what they want, they'll leave," the king threw in.

The others nodded their heads. Snow added, "That is the most logical conclusion. For Caldia to want war though, what could be so important?"

"Arms. They want all the ἅrms to be returned to Caldia," a voice said from behind.

Everyone turned and gasped. In front of them was Dorothy, tattered, bloody, and about ready to faint. She took one step forward and almost fell forward. Alviss rushed forth and caught her right before she fell.

She glanced up and smiled, "Sorry Al."

Then she looked at the king and heavily said, "Caldia no longer trusts the people of the lower world to keep ἅrms in their possession. If you do not return all the ἅrms, then they will attack with their full might."

The lower world was a term Caldians used to refer to the land below their floating home. For some this was a derogatory term for the inhabitants of the rest of Mἅr. When Dorothy used it though, they knew she said it with no malice or ill will.

"But why?" the king mumbled.

"Because your careless use of these powerful treasures have forced Caldia to act," a new voice said from behind them.

He too was a familiar face. After all, the man was the Great Elder of Caldia, the one who helped them win the last War Games with the gift of new guardian ἅrms. Dressed in a long black robe with a warlock's hat to match, his pupil-less eyes and emotionless face was still a disturbing sight to the people present.

The king stumbled for words, "Wh-why now?"

"It's been a long time coming. It was only because of my and one other member of the high court that we didn't take action sooner. Now even he has turned against you," the Great Elder sighed.

"The high court of Caldia is comprised of three members. There is one woman and two men. To pass any decision, there must be a two thirds vote before it can be taken for a popular vote. If all three agree though, then the decision becomes law," Dorothy explained before a coughing fit took her.

When it was over, she continued, "Don't act like it was their fault. There was no popular vote so you must have agreed as well."

All eyes turned to the Great Elder. He took in his audience's eyes and said unrepentant, "That is of little importance. Caldia offers you a choice. Will there be war or will you return the ἅrms back to their homeland?"

Now the attention was at the king and he did not yield, "My people have been in the presence of ἅrms for their entire lives. I will not make this choice for them. If Caldia wants war, then let war show you all the dedication of the world's people."

There was a sense of approval from everyone in the room towards the king. Even the Great Elder was nodding his head in approval. He walked forward towards the king and produced an hourglass.

"I respect your choice so I will offer you this. Neither Caldia nor the Lower World wishes for unnecessary bloodshed. So I propose a third and final War Games. We will enter on opposing sides and our forces do battle. In the end, whichever side wins will choose the fate of the realm," the Great Elder said.

"Interesting but what do you mean by sides?" the king scratched his chin.

"The battle will not be limited to Cross Guard and Caldia. Individuals may enter. Only the strongest will win," the Great Elder said.

Alan stepped in and angrily stated, "This will turn into a massacre."

"No. One may surrender as in the previous games," the Elder rebutted.

"Still, if a great evil should win then both lands would be plunged into chaos," Alviss interjected.

The Elder looked undisturbed, "If that should happen, then so be it."

Snow gasped. Her gasp turned everyone's attention to her and she quickly said, "That's horrible. How can you be so unfazed at the thought of your people being slaughtered?"

"Their lives are their own. Unless they act against Caldia, what they do is of no concern of mine. For that reason, Dorothy must be punished for her betrayal," the Elder pointed a bony finger at Dorothy who was by now on the brink of consciousness.

"You can't have her, "Alviss brought out the Thirteen Totem Pole Rod version in hand and held it up. Snow followed suit with the Ice Sword. Alan and Gaira both took sides between the Elder.

"Very well. It matters little at this junction. Do you agree to my terms?" the Elder dismissed Dorothy and turned to the king.

"I suppose we have no choice," the king slunk his shoulders in exasperation.

The Elder held up the forgotten hourglass and spoke softly, "Then it is done. In one month's time, the third War Games will begin. When this hourglass is finished, it will signal the coming of the beginning of the end."

With that, he vanished with Andata. Everyone was at a loss for words. No one was able to do or say anything. Snow finally regained her wits and told Alviss to get Dorothy to the healers. Alviss gave a slight bow of respect and carried the now unconscious Dorothy bridal style out of the room.

Alan started smoking a cigar, "If this should happen, chances are another Otherworlder will be called. And this time, we do not have the means to call another one."

The king spoke up, "No. We have one. I kept it a secret so no one would steal it but now is the time."

He reached behind the throne and pulled out a music box. He wound it three times and it opened up. Music filled the room. Near the end of the song, a small click was heard. The king reached in and pulled out an ἅrm, the Gatekeeper Clown.

"How?" Gaira asked incredulously.

"The music box was a gift from Snow's mother. The ἅrm was given to me one day by my father, the previous king. Now I suppose the gift must be used," the king had a wistful look on his face.

"My lord, if you are not sure then-," Alan protested.

But the king cut him off, "What king looks after himself before his people? Now go call forth another warrior."

"By your command," Alan and Gaira both bowed and left leaving Snow and her father.

"For all our sakes, let's hope this warrior will be a friend," the king solemnly said.


	2. Coma

"I suppose we had better begin Alan," Gaira said once they were out of the castle.

"Yeah. Do you want to call one since you never did," Alan asked.

Gaira chuckled, "With my luck, I'll get someone useless. No Alan, you pull our trump. Lightning does strike twice."

"I hope so," Alan mumbled before he put on the Gatekeeper Clown ἅrm and activated the dagger ἅrm.

Just as he was about to break the seal, he saw Alviss rush out. He stopped what he was doing and greeted the young man.

"How's Dorothy?" Alan asked.

Alviss looked worried but said, "She'll be fine. The princess took it upon herself to heal her with the Healing Angel ἅrm."

"Understandable since she is Snow's aunt," Gaira rubbed his chin.

Alviss quickly changed the subject, "Were you about to call the Otherworlder?"

Both men nodded and Alviss put in, "Before that though, we have a more pressing matter. Babbo."

Babbo was Mἅr heaven's most dangerous ἅrm. In the right hands, anyone can be nigh invincible. Yet if it were to fall into the wrong hands, another "Phantom" may appear. Phantom was one of the greatest threats Mἅr heaven ever saw. He used Babbo in the first War Games and nearly delivered victory to the ruthless Chess Pieces. Now it was living in some village with its only descendant.

In Babbo's past life, he was a Caldian elder. His soul was "downloaded" into a metal sphere which now carried the personality of the former man. As of late, he had met with his son Kai and survived another battle. Alviss was reluctant to call the veteran back into the fray but the limitless powers Babbo contained were far too powerful to let him run free with the chance of being controlled by some dark force.

"You have a point. The three of us should search for him before-" Gaira said thoughtfully.

Alviss cut him off, "I know where he is but I am reluctant to ask him to do anything more."

"We understand how you feel Alviss but remember this war is going to affect him the most. For better and worse he is still an ἅrm. If Caldia wins, then he will have to return to Caldia without any of us," Alan pointed out.

"Without his son," Alviss murmured.

"That is the crux of the matter. Will Babbo fight with us or will he be content with watching how this will all play out?" Gaira pondered.

Alviss looked determined, "We have to try."

"Yes. Asking wouldn't hurt," Gaira put in.

Alan looked at his two companions, "Then we'll hold off on the summoning. For now, Andata, take us to Harnau, to Babbo."

With a flash of light, the Andata ἅrm transported them to Harnau. In this village, they saw the hustle and bustle small towns have. People were moving to and fro with no regards to the three newcomers. As the three walked closer to the residence of Babbo's son Kai, they saw the infamous statue dedicated to Ginta and Babbo. Part of Alviss wanted to gag every time he saw the statue.

When they reached the house, Alan knocked sharply. The door opened without any resistance and the three went in immediately. This was not a good sign. They quickly split up and searched the house. As Gaira's luck would have it, he discovered a body. He hurried to it and called for Alan and Alviss.

When the three reconvened, Gaira held up the body of Kai. He wasn't dead but he wasn't moving either. Alan ordered the others to go on ahead and return to Lestava and get some help for Kai. He would search for the assailants and Babbo.

Alviss quickly transferred the three to Lestava. Once they arrived he shouted for healers. Moments later, three healers arrived and began emergency procedures. One checked for injuries while another started using a healing ἅrm. The last one was trying to get information out of Gaira and Alviss to no avail. Neither knew anything after all. The last healer went to work healing some of the lacerations the first healer uncovered.

Before long, they declared Kai would live but he still required medical attention. This was not good news. They were hoping to add Kai's strength to their forces but now, his life took priority.

Hours later, Kai woke up. He had a fit before the healers were able to sedate him. While sedated, Alviss was able to question him about what happened. All he got was "the place where God fell." That was enough of a hint for Alviss who was part of the battle a year earlier with the fake Guardians. He quickly used Andata and arrived at the scene where Kai's battle ended.

A year ago, there was a man who desired to be God. He created an ark using the life energy of countless innocents. Kai along with several others were able to stop him. The place where the he was killed was where Kai and Babbo were supposed to meet after the sudden attack.

Alviss departed immediately but there was no need to rush. When he got there, the battle was already over. There were three bodies near Babbo and him.

"You're late," Alan said as Alviss approached.

"My apologies. I was tending to Kai," Alviss said.

Babbo had a worried look on his face, "How is he?"

Alviss looked sympathetic, "He's in a coma but he will live."

Babbo heaved a sigh of relief and started crying, "Oh thank goodness. I was worried about the dear boy."

Leaving Babbo to his crying, Alviss asked Alan what happened. Alan repeated what Babbo had told him.

They were suddenly attacked out of the blue by three Caldians. They demanded that Babbo return with them. Kai tried to fight them off but Greda, his "partner, was there. Not wanting her hurt, he asked his father to run away with Greda and to meet him later at that place. Armed with nothing but a sword, he held off the pursuers long enough for Babbo to escape with Greda.

"So where is she now?" Alviss asked.

Alan took a deep drag of his cigar, "I just sent her to Lestava. But we have a bigger concern now."

"Babbo won't fight with us?" Alviss said worriedly.

Alan shook his head, "He will. That is not the problem though."

"Then what?" Alviss asked.

Now Babbo spoke up, "The Chess Pieces are back or what's left of them anyways."

Alviss looked unsettled, "How?"

"'You see these bodies right? They're dead. The one who killed them was Rolan. He's mad Alviss, genuinely mad. And he's out for revenge," Alan coughed.

"Not now!" Alviss gritted his teeth. Their problems were getting out of hand.

"And he's not alone. At least five others were with him according to Babbo. No doubt, they are going to participate in the next War Games," Alan sighed.

"Then we need to call the Otherworlder now before we lose even more time," Babbo said.

Let's go back to Lestava first. I'm sure you want to see your son first right Babbo?" Alan looked to Babbo.

"That would be nice," Babbo said wistfully.

Alan nodded and transported them all to Lestava. It was now time to call the Otherworlder.

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Yeah. Some familiar faces are going to show up. And they still need to use the gatekeeper clown. All that and more in the next... few chapters. Let me know what you think so far.


	3. Update

Upon arrival, Babbo hastened to the infirmary and his son. Alviss, Gaira, and Alan however moved to an open courtyard. The courtyard was more of a garden, full of flowers and trees. Kept by servants and guardians alike, the garden never ceased to be in bloom. It was an ideal place to summon the Otherworlder.

Alan brought out the Gatekeeper Clown and held it out for Alviss. Alviss looked confused for a second but took the ἅrm. It felt surreal to be entrusted a second time with the trump. A while back, Alan had praised him for surpassing him and becoming the finest soldier Mἅr heaven has ever seen. Alviss had brushed with off. Arrogant and proud though he was, he respected Alan's strength far too much to feel he had surpassed the legend. Now though, his pride swelled up.

Putting the ring on, he summoned a dagger and broke the seal. At once, he felt the huge drain of magical power. It was not a feeling he relished but he felt a tinge of pride that he had more in reserve than the first time he utilized the ἅrm.

The Gatekeeper Clown flashed the image of a white robed spirit with a masked clown face. This time the gate appeared with him. The last time Alviss summoned the Gatekeeper, his magical powers were not strong enough to maintain the gate's presence. That was why the last Otherworlder, Ginta Toramizu, appeared far away from the summoning site.

The summoning was fast. Within moments the gate started creaking open. Right before it was fully opened though a shadow leapt out of the door. It tackled Alan head on. The older man was able to push the assailant away. The shadow immediately got back up and ran away in great leaps. Alviss tried to stop it with the Sealing Skull but was surprised when the ἅrm failed to work. Turning his attention away from the distant shadow, he faced the still opened gate.

Another figure emerged from the light. As the gate closed, the figure started to emerge from the light. His golden blonde hair, sticking high in the air in spikes, and youthful face full of sadness came into view. His face was well known in Mἅr heaven. After all, he was Ginta Torimizu, the savior from the other world.

Alviss was the first to overcome his initial shock, "G-Ginta. Is that you?"

Ginta looked up slowly, his eyes full of guilt. He tried to smile, "Alviss. Alan. It's been a while."

Alan laughed, "It sure was boy. It's great that you are here. We're in the middle of-"

"-A war. I know," Ginta finished. He tried to take a step but stumbled.

Alviss's mouth parted in shock, "How could you have known that?"

"It's the reason I have come back after all… and the reason I have betrayed one of the kindest people in my life," Ginta laughed humorlessly.

Alan stared at him, "You had better start from the beginning. Inside."

Ginta allowed Alan and Alviss to help him walk inside the castle. While the last time he came to Mἅr heaven his body experienced amazing changes like better eyesight and increased physical abilities, this time his body felt like lead and he felt like he could barely stay awake. Gaira led the three to the infirmary where Babbo and Kai were.

The room was like any other hospital room. The walls were white. The flooring was wood, clean and maple. By the walls were eight beds, two of them occupied. Near a small desk were three healers. At the sight of Alan, they excused themselves. Babbo turned as the healers left to greet the visitors and froze. He recognized the youth being supported by young Alviss.

"Ginta! I knew you would return one day. After all, true gentlemen always come to the aid of another," Babbo laughed as he bounced around the figure.

Ginta forced a weak smile, "Hello Babbo and whose this? Is that Dorothy?"

"My son and his friend. He's unconscious now but he is a sweet boy. As for the witch, she's just sleeping, don't worry" Babbo raised his eyebrow suggestively. Greta appeared not to hear him though there was a faint blush on her face.

Ginta looked confused on how Babbo could have a son but was too weary to ask anything. Alviss helped him to a bed to which Ginta sank his aching body into gratefully. Babbo, having finally noticed the strain Ginta seemed to be under, fell silent.

When Ginta was able to have a breather, he spoke in a low, unsteady voice, "Koyuki was taken by some figure in a black robe. I tried to stop him but he knocked me away. Then some kind of black clown emerged and took them both away."

"A black clown?" Alan muttered.

"The Dark Gatekeeper ἅrm," Dorothy said as she joined the conversation, having awoken from the noise, "It's a very powerful ἅrm, the only one of its kind in existence. Much like Babbo is."

"So what, it allows the user to travel between worlds?" Alan took out a cigar and started smoking it.

Dorothy nodded her head, "It does that and more. Legend has it that it is capable of traveling through and creating new dimensions."

"Legend?" Babbo asked.

Dorothy nodded, "No one has ever seen it in this age. It was supposed to be lost."

Gaira coughed, "This is dire news. A legend is resurfacing in time for the war for the future of all of Mἅr heaven. What's more, the princess's counterpart is kidnapped."

"Ginta. Go on. There is something you are not telling us. You told us that it was your fault. What was your fault?" Alan asked sternly.

Ginta opened his mouth then closed it again. Whatever it was troubled him greatly. Alan was about to tell Ginta it was fine if he didn't tell them, but Ginta opened his mouth then, "I was not offered entry by the Gatekeeper Clown. It offered entry to another friend of mine, Rey Altear. It rolled a one and I pushed for it to allow me to go through so I can save Koyuki. It refused of course. Rey had already passed through halfway and the gate was closing. I squeezed through the opening and forced my way through. Then his body started to turn black. He howled in pain and leapt forward."

"The shadow we saw," Gaira muttered.

"Now I have three things I must accomplish: save Koyuki, save Rey, and end this war," Ginta sighed sadly.

"How did you know there was a war?" Dorothy pointed out.

Ginta managed a half-smile, "The man in the hood told me for some reason."

"Did you remember anything about him?" Dorothy prodded.

"He had a tattoo of a blue spiral on the left side of his face," Ginta answered.

Dorothy turned pale, "I only know of one person with a marking like that and, Ginta, he is not a man. She is one of the three high elders of Caldia, Lachesis. In all of Caldia, only the Great Elder has higher authority and power. If the three are involved then we may be in real trouble."

"Where were they during the second War Games?" Alviss asked.

Dorothy looked at him, "They trust only each other and never act unless they are in complete agreement. If you will all recall, in the last War Games, they did not take part though Caldia was under attack. That was because Lady Clotho did not feel action was necessary."

Ginta asked, "Clotho?"

Dorothy nodded, "Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos are the three elders. Lady Clotho, the seer, Lady Lachesis, the Heavens, and Lady Atropos, the Forge of Creation, are the supreme warriors of Caldia. These three only fight if Clotho deems it necessary and the other two agree."

"What about the Great Elder?" Gaira asked.

Dorothy paused, "He is above them but I and most of the inhabitants of Caldia know little to nothing about him. We don't even know his name."

Ginta coughed, "The Great Elder. He was an incredible ally in the War Games. The ἅrms he bestowed on you guys saved us. I can't imagine why Caldia would choose to attack us."

Everyone fell silent for a moment then Dorothy supplied, "Ginta. What you and everyone in Lestava's range of influence don't understand is the nature of ἅrms. They were never meant to stay in this realm forever. The ἅrms were to return to Caldia after a certain amount of time. That time has long since passed."

"I still don't understand," Ginta sighed.

Dorothy smiled and hugged him, "You don't need to understand anything Ginta. Right now, just focus on saving your friends. We'll be right there with you."

Ginta looked at her and returned the embrace, "Thank you Dorothy."

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Honestly, I hate how slow the story is going considering I haven't updated in a while. Still, this is more of an informational chapter than anything so it's a necessary evil. Anyways, enjoy and review.


	4. Politics with a Punch

I'll be honest. I didn't like this chapter all that much. Too much politics and not much action. Next chapter will start the War Games though so that will be good. Something to look forward to right?

To all my reviewers: Thank you for the reviews. I enjoyed reading them. Some questions I have answered below but my apologies if I spelled your name wrong.

Ginryuumaru and EcstaticPetenshi- This is not really a crossover seeing as Kai and Greta are the only ones in this. Greta will have a limited role while Kai has a more active role. He plays a special part in the storyline though it does not involve fighting. He does fight though but not until later in the story. Please enjoy the rest of this story.

heartarrow56- I have not read your story yet but I will soon hopefully. Please continue to enjoy this story.

Disclaimer- This belongs to the guy in red assuming he's wearing red that day.

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Ginta and Dorothy were given the rest of the night to rest. The king and princess were informed of Ginta's arrival and respectfully, and reluctantly on Snow's part, left him alone. The next morning, Ginta and Dorothy were summoned to the royal assembly hall.

Ginta and Dorothy were joined right outside of the hall by Alviss, Alan, and Gaira.

"Ginta. Dorothy. How are you two holding up?" Alan asked.

Ginta grinned, "I was just tired I guess. I feel better already."

Dorothy stretched her arms above her head, "The healers were very thorough. I feel great."

"You won't once we go in there," Gaira muttered.

"What was that?" Ginta asked confused as to why that might be. It was only a strategy meeting.

Alan sighed, "You may not know this but while Snow's father is the king of Mἅr heaven, there is a council that advises him. In fact, he cannot make a decision without their okay."

"Where were they during the war?" Ginta asked.

"One of them you have already met, the princess of Reginlief," Alviss explained, "The others were in hiding. All the members of the castle are nobility and are in command of their own private force of warriors as well as their own lands."

Ginta scratched his head, "I don't remember seeing all that many Cross Guard at the War Games."

Alan's eyes turned fierce and he said with a cool edge, "That's because most of these nobles decided to hide until the whole thing blew over. If the Chess had won, I have no doubt they would have gone bowing and scraping to them."

"There are people like that in the world Ginta. Then there are people like you, selfless. Able to put others ahead of their own well-being," Dorothy smiled at him.

Ginta shook his head and pushed open the door. Inside he saw more than twenty nobles seated in a circular table made of metal and silver. The king sat in the center, on a gold throne embroidered with jewels with velvet seat and back. Snow sat on his right in a similar throne. Behind him were two members of the Cross Guard, dressed in full plate armor with swords held in front of them, blade facing downwards.

When the door slammed shut behind all of them, the room fell silent and everyone turned to look at the noisemakers. Ginta scanned the room and found that the princess of Reginlief was the only one he recognized besides the king and Snow.

"Ah Ginta my boy. And Alan, Alviss, Gaira, and the lady Dorothy as well. Please join us," the king gestured for the guards to bring more chairs.

Alan held up a hand, "Your majesty. If it is all the same, I would prefer to stand." The others nodded their agreement.

The king frowned, "As you like." He waited until Alan and the others moved behind him before he spoke, "Now where were we?" He turned to a man seated to his left.

"We were discussing Gheilerul Castle's budget for the next year," the man answered.

The king nodded, "Yes. And as in the case of Lord Bubleton of Heinl and Lady Dace of Acapulca, we simply do not have the funds to increase your budgets." (AN: Names of the lords and ladies are made up. Castles are correct though. See Vol. 3 of the manga).

The lord of Gheilerul sputtered, "If we raise the taxes by say three hundred pewters, then the treasury funds would increase."

The king looked appalled, "It hasn't even been a decade since the last War Games and even less time since the commotion with the False Guardians. The people are still in the midst of reconstruction."

"If funds increase, we would be able to take a more active hand in the reconstruction," a lady spoke up. It must be Lady Dace. The other lords were muttering amongst themselves.

The king slammed his fist onto the table to quiet the room, "The matter is closed. On to new business."

The princess of Reginlief made to stand but someone else beat her to it. A man in a dark blue dress shirt with decorations on his chest, wearing white trousers and an assortment of rings and necklaces made of precious gems, stood with his nose in the air, "I believe I have the floor, my lady."

The princess of Reginlief sat down reluctantly. He smirked, "Thank you kindly. Now, it has been brought to my attention there is a grave matter at hand in the coming month. This problem is causing turmoil and may change how we all live later on." When he said all, he swept his hands out.

Everyone looked at him expectantly. He said, "I am of course talking about the lowered price on silk garments. Soon, the common folk will dress like us nobles. Then who knows? Will they want a vote in our laws? Special benefits? No. I suggest we kill this off quickly before-"

Ginta interrupted from where he stood behind the king, "I've had enough of this. Taxes? Clothing? In case you haven't heard, we have a war coming on."

The noble who was interrupted narrowed his eyes, "Oh. The hero of Mἅr heaven. Ginta right?" Ginta nodded.

"Tell me. Ginta," he slurred the name, "Where you come from, are you a king?"

Ginta shook his head not understanding where this was going, "No. We don't have a king where I am from. We have a system where everyone-"

Now he was cut off. The man stated angrily, "Then you should not be speaking. Your betters are holding a discussion here. Don't start thinking that just by fighting a few battles you are like the rest of us bluebloods."

"What?" Ginta angrily took a step forward but Alviss pulled him back.

"You come from peasant stock," the man pointed at Ginta then at himself, "I come from a noble line, one of the purest and most sacred lineages in this world. Just by being in this room is a privilege."

"Lord Aris. You are out of line," Snow stood from her seat.

Lord Aris snapped, "I'm out of line? This peasant has interrupted an important meeting of the greatest people in all of Mἅr. In a normal situation he would be executed for his impudence. Interrupting us to talk about some petty war. How rude!"

Ginta shook off Alviss's hand on his shoulder, "A petty war?"

Lord Aris nodded, "A war is the matter of soldiers like you. We cannot bother ourselves with such petty matters."

Ginta snapped, "If Caldia wins, they will take all the ἅrms away."

The noble shrugged, "Then we will just invade Caldia."

"Lives will be lost. Your own people's lives! Don't you care?"Ginta's voice was a mixture of anger and pleading.

Lord Aris scoffed, "There's always more where they come from. Dying for the sake of Mἅr heaven. They should be than-"

He never finished. Ginta had walked over and punched him square on the nose. The guards behind the king started to move to apprehend Ginta. Alan stopped them and motioned for Gaira and Alviss to move. The two grabbed each of Ginta's arms and dragged him out of the room.

"What were you thinking?" Alviss almost shouted in Ginta's ear.

Ginta looked indignant, "I was thinking what a jerk that guy was. Aren't you two angry?"

Alviss held his hands out in mock surrender, "Of course we are but that doesn't mean we can just punch out a lord of a castle."

Gaira cleared his throat, "Remember Ginta. Though you played a key role in stopping the Chess assault, you are not a resident of this world. Once the war is over, you will be returning to your world. The affairs of this world will continue with or without you."

Alviss snapped, "Gaira!"

"It's the truth Alviss. That is the view the nobles all share. At the end of the day, they are the governors of the people, not you," Gaira sighed, "Though I can't say I disagree with how you acted. I would have liked to hit him myself."

Alan soon joined them, "Now we have a new set of messes. The idiot lord is demanding Ginta's imprisonment. King's against it as well as the other less stupid rulers. But there are quite a few that would like to see Ginta locked up or killed."

"Why? I did nothing to them except for that one guy," Ginta demanded.

"That's beside the point. Politics is a mess. Right now, you have a lot of influence among the populace Ginta. The people would listen to pretty much anything you say. You could sway a lot of opinions," Seeing Ginta about to protest, Alan held up a hand, "The nobles can't take the chance. Many of them are already being badgered by their citizens for not taking a more active role in the last War Games and only caring about their position."

"Even though it's all true," Ginta muttered.

Alviss sighed, "There are good rulers too remember? It's too difficult for us to judge who is a good leader and who isn't."

"For example, the princess of Reginlief Raine is helping to support your argument. But I'm afraid there are too many dissenters for her to do much good," Alan brought up a new point.

Ginta was silent for a moment before pulling his hair with both hands, "Augh. I hate politics."

The others laughed until Snow and Dorothy emerged. Snow was wearing a long dress, pink with a pattern of flowers at the hem. Her hair was much longer now, almost to her waist. Before Dorothy could, Snow pulled Ginta into a deep embrace.

"It's great to see you again Ginta," Snow whispered to him.

Ginta blushed, "Yeah. It's good to see you too Snow."

Lord Aris was still furious. He had returned to his castle soon after the conference ended. His nose was swollen from Ginta's attack and he just knew the other nobles were laughing at him. Walking through the castle courtyards with his retinue of six highly trained soldiers, he paused at the sight of two cloaked figures standing in his way. The impudence he was shown today by the lower class was intolerable.

"Who dares to block the way of Lord Aris?" he nearly shouted. Hearing no reply, he ordered his men to remove the two from his sight. As they moved forward, suddenly they were entombed in a pillar of ice. The other four moved as well and got frozen just the same.

The lord's legs gave out and he collapsed on his rear. He tried to crawl away but one of the figures now stood in front of him.

"Wh-who are you? What do you want?" Lord Aris sputtered.

"Just your cooperation Lord Aris," a male's voice rang out from a figure behind him.

Both figures pulled down the hood shielding their faces. Lord Aris gasped, "C-C-C-Chess!"

The short male in front of him with a painted eye on the center of his forehead and spiked purple hair gave a sardonic smile, "You remember us? How sweet."

"Girom. Control yourself. This man **is** going to help us after all," a man with long toffee colored hair.

When Lord Aris turned to face the man, he shuddered in fear. The man's eyes were a light brown. In them, Lord Aris saw a mixture of contempt, madness, and sorrow. The man was sane but unreasonable. And if Lord Aris was correct, the man standing before him was Rolan, one of the thirteen knights. Behind him must be Girom, a Bishop.

"H-help you how?" Lord Aris tried backing away but felt his back hit a birdbath. He was trapped.

Rolan smiled, "I offer you a proposition. Join us in the creation of a new world."

"This is madness," Lord Aris shuddered.

"Madness you say? In this new world there will be no war, no chaos. If the Chess Pieces or your men win, we will all support you as the new king," Rolan lifted the man to his feet and whispered, "King Aris. King of Mἅr heaven. Ruler of all. How does that sound?"

A smile suddenly formed on Lord Aris's face, "King Aris. That has a nice sound to it."

"Imagine peasants bowing at your feet. That fool of a king shining your shoes. The entire royal court obeying your every whim," Rolan whispered. Unbeknownst to Lord Aris, a ring around Rolan's left ring finger was glowing throughout the whole talk.

"Yes. Yes! I deserve to rule after all," Lord Aris almost shouted.

Rolan clapped his hands together, "Good. Good. Then if I may, I would like you to send me your finest soldiers for this coming war."

"And when we win, I will be king," Lord Aris said gleefully.

Rolan smiled, "All shall be as you desire."

An hour after unfreezing the soldiers and selecting the strongest soldiers under Aris's rule, Rolan and Girom departed the castle and transported themselves to Vestry.

"Hey. Rolan?" Girom asked as they walked into a forest outside of Vestry.

"What is it Girom?" Rolan asked.

"Why do we need the help of that buffoon anyway? Each of us is stronger than the trash we got from him," Girom stated.

Rolan stopped, "It's always a good idea to have extra pawns."

"Those guys are not even worth a pawn."

"Fair enough but there was something I wanted. His land was one of the ones we did not attack in the last War Games. And according to rumors, a powerful Guardian ἅrm should be in his possession."

"So why don't we just steal it?"

"Chances are he may use it against us. Seeing how few of us there are, I would rather not take the chance. Far easier for the fool to believe we are working for him. Anyways, he would probably give it to one of his soldiers to use. If the man dies, we'll take it for ourselves.

Girom smirked, "This is nice. A cruel and evil Rolan instead of the sissy. I like you better this way."

Rolan resumed walking and Girom followed, "I haven't changed Girom. My priorities are just different same as yours."

Back at Lestava, Ginta and the others were finished with updating everyone's information. There was still a little less than the month allotted to prepare for the upcoming battle. In perhaps three months max, Mἅr heaven may have a new ruler or a new way of life.

"First things first, Ginta, we need to check out your magical energy. Something felt off since I saw you years ago," Alan said when they all arrived at the training grounds.

Ginta clapped his hands together and concentrated. After a minute, Alan shook his head, "I thought so. Ginta. Your magical energy is low. I don't think you have a tenth of the power you had while fighting Phantom."

Everyone looked shocked. Then Snow spoke, "What should we do then Alan?"

Gaira scowled, "All of you will enter the training gate."

"What about you gramps?" Dorothy asked.

"Alan and I will manage the gates. No one else can do better right now," Gaira answered.

Ginta had a thought, "Wait. What about Jack and Nanashi? They're fighting too aren't they?"

"We don't know about Nanashi but Jack said he will be here soon. He's meeting with someone first," Alviss claimed.

"Who? Pano?" Ginta thought of the woman who seemed to fall for Jack and vice-versa.

Snow looked at Ginta and remembered something very important, "We forgot to tell you. Jack's married to Pano. They have a kid on the way too."

Ginta looked taken back, "What? How?"

"I wonder myself sometimes," Alviss muttered loud enough for Dorothy to hear. She snorted at the comment.

"Time passes differently here and where you're from. It's been almost twelve years since you've left," Snow explained.

"It seemed like only a year and a half for me," Ginta thought sadly. Now that he looked at them all, he realized they were all much older now. He felt strangely out of place here.

"Anyways, once Babbo gets here, we can begin," Alan took out a cigar and lit it, "We'll do one day intervals so by the end you will all have maybe two years in the training gates to build up your magical powers."

Ginta wondered, "Why can't it be more?"

Alan shook his head, "The training gate is useful for getting stronger but it costs the wielder like a darkness ἅrm. I doubt me and Gaira could do more than that."

"What does it cost you?" Ginta asked.

Gaira ruffled his hair and smirked, "Don't worry boy. We adults have it under control."

Babbo walked in then and looked around. Alan nodded and took out a small bag. In the bag were eight small stones. Alana handed the stones to Ginta. Once they reached Ginta's hands, they started to glow.

Then they started to crack. Everyone looked shocked and Ginta let them fall from his hands. When the glow was gone, he bent down and retrieved the stones. Only two of them were fine.

"Why did they crack?" Ginta demanded of no one in particular.

No one can come up with a reason. Alviss voiced his opinion, "Maybe they couldn't handle the strain of the imaginations. These have been used thrice times. Once with Phantom, the second time with you, and lastly with Kai."

Dorothy made a thinking gesture, "It's possible."

"Two stones are still fine. We'll have to live with it for now. Maybe later, we can find out more," Alan said, "It's time. Your 60 days of training begins now."


	5. Meteor

A shorter chapter for now. I need some time to reorganize my thoughts. In the next chapter, I'll introduce the teams and the rules for the games.

Review.

Disclaimer- not mine

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-One month later-

The strongest warriors in Mἅr heaven have now gathered in Reginlief Castle. According to the Great Elder, this would be the site for the Choosing of Warriors. Those who have passed the test would be allowed to enter the true battlegrounds.

"There are a lot of people here. Way more than last time," Ginta said as he looked at his surroundings.

Alan shook his head in disgust, "That's because whoever wins would be given whatever they desire. Everyone's in it for themselves."

"Not everyone. We aren't. And there must be others who would rather life continued on as is. I know I am," a man in dirty trousers and a tattered green shirt with spiky black hair said.

Ginta looked at the man, "You're right Jack. And we're the greatest team after all."

They bumped arms and grinned at each other. They were still best friends even though they were separated for a long time. Their group consisted of Jack, Alan, Gaira, Alviss, Dorothy, Babbo, and Ginta. Snow trained with them but because of her status, she was "persuaded" to refrain from taking part.

As an advisor said, "She is the symbol of hope and peace in Mἅr heaven. No one will pay heed to a bloodied symbol."

A few hours later, a short dwarf-like creature with a tail and a black hat stepped forward in front of the huge crowd. He said in a quiet yet strangely compelling voice that brought the fanfare of noise to a hush, "If everyone would look up, a mass of spheres would now be released. Everyone is to take one of these balls. Those who are not participating step outside of the castle or you may be unfortunately caught in the preliminary round."

When the announcement was done, a mass of dark blue spheres poured onto the audience. Some of the spheres hit the heads of the participants. Most however were easily caught. After a minute another announcement was made.

"Does everyone have a ball? Good. The preliminaries have only one rule: survive for one minute," the dwarf said.

"What?"

"Survive?"

"Wait. What do you mean?"

The dwarf sighed, "You are all very annoying. If you want to leave at any time, just break the ball in front of your feet. Andata. Transport all these warriors to the Far Plains."

With a flash of light, all the fighters present were transported to the Far Plains. The Plains was a beautiful region. It was region devoid of human influence. Flowers and trees grew with wild abandon. Wildlife flourished. Long ago, the former king, Snow's grandfather, ordained the Plains to be untouched so its serenity and peace can be enjoyed by generations to come. True to his words, the Plains was left untouched save for the occasional logger or poacher. Guards and the inhabitants of the nearby villages took great care of the land.

Now the warriors participating in the War Games wondered why they were transported to such a serene place. Before them, they could see waves of green grass and wildflowers. Most knew that the wild creatures in the forests were harmless, save the rare wild boar.

"It's too quiet. Prepare for a sudden attack," Alan muttered to the others.

Jack took out the Earth Shovel ἅrm left to him by his father. Alviss held the Thirteen Totem Pole Rod version in his left hand. Dorothy held her broom casually while Ginta did the same with Babbo's hammer. Gaira and Alan were empty-handed.

Suddenly, a being cloaked in black robes appeared, floating in the air above them. The being pulled down the hood covering the face, revealing a woman with long ruby hair. She had a tattoo of a blood red blade pointing downwards on her forehead. When she spoke, no one was able to even breathe.

"Greetings to all. I am one of the three ancients Lachesis. Those who survive my trial will have earned their place in the tournament. Sacred ἅrm Heaven's Fall," she said in a solemn yet tranquil voice.

In mere moments, before anyone could do anything, a deafening roar could be heard. From high above, small objects seemed to be falling towards the participants at high speed, growing larger by the second. In mere moments after Lachesis had activated her ἅrm, a meteor crashed into the northeastern part of the group. Countless more followed and many more lives fell under the assault. Some were able to realize the finality of the situation and broke the orbs in their hands. The orbs emitted a strange mist that took these few back to the castle.

Many were unable to do so. Some were mystified by the beauty of the shower of light and stone. Some died from the first moments of the assault of meteors. Even more warriors, however, experienced absolute terror and found they were unable to do more than stare their deaths in the face.

Yet, at the end of one minute, the last meteor had fallen and some did survive. Thanks in large part to Alan's guardian ἅrm, Saint Anger. The guardian knocked away much of the meteors that came close to their vicinity. Dorothy's Broom of Zephyrus and Alviss's Thirteen Totem Pole were able to account for the ones that got through. Gaira, Jack, and Ginta found themselves unable to help.

Further away, two men were bent over a series of corpses. Both men muttered some incoherent words before transporting the corpses to another place. Standing up, the blonde man with long hair and sporting a red bandana that covered a part of his face and the black haired man with a similar bandana tied around his eyes both looked up at the sky to where Lachesis was still floating.

The blonde said to his comrade, "It seems we are the only ones left."

The dark haired man spoke, "At least this time, most of our comrades were able to escape back to Luberia."

"It's my fault. I am the leader but once again, I allowed my comrades to die," the blonde said, a single tear falling from his right eye.

The black haired man placed a hand on the younger man's shoulder, "They wanted to fight in this war. You did everything you could Nanashi."

Nanashi shook his head, "It's not enough."

"So many died," Alviss said mournfully.

"Only about ten Cross Guard are still alive. They were near us when the attack began," Gaira informed the others.

Alan took a deep breath, tired from using the guardian, "We survived. What's next?"

His question was answered by Lachesis. She was ordered by the Great Elder to give the survivors a moment to rest before revealing the rules for the tournament.

"Those who have survived- congratulations. You are among the greatest warriors of this world," Lachesis began, "Tomorrow, return to Reginlief for information on the coming games."

With that said, she vanished. The survivors all surveyed the land around them. The once beautiful plains and forests have been decimated by meteors. The once endless waves of grasslands and flowers were littered with corpses and tainted by blood. Then the survivors left some dreading the coming battles. A preliminary that killed so many left a burning question in the minds of the survivors: What's next?


	6. Rules

"Why didn't you warn us?" Alviss directed the question towards Dorothy. There was anger in his eyes.

After the trial, everyone had returned to Reginlief for some rest. Before they did however, Alan called the team to a meeting to discuss the day's events. Gaira opted to check on the survivors.

She shook her head in exasperation, "I'm sorry but I have no idea. It's likely an ἅrm on the same level as the Dark Gatekeeper ἅrm."

"An ἅrm you don't know about? Is that even possible?" Jack wondered out loud.

Dorothy offered him a small smile, "Of course, rare as it is. Some ἅrms change over time. The properties may be way different from what they should have been. One example is Babbo. Another is my Toto."

"Guardians with a will," Alan muttered.

Dorothy nodded, "Guardians with their own consciousness are few and far. Those that develop their own consciousness must have done so out of love or hate."

Ginta scratched his head, "What does that mean?"

"Take my Toto for instance. In the beginning it was a regular Rain Dog guardian. Over time, it became affectionate and started to learn to speak for my sake. That would be out of "love"," Dorothy explained.

"But," Ginta placed a hand to his chin in a thinking gesture, "Why would an ἅrm filled with hate try harder?"

Dorothy took a deep breath, "No one knows this but there have been cases where an ἅrm with his own consciousness killing his wielder and escaping."

Everyone looked surprised at this and turned to look at Babbo. The cup-and-ball ἅrm looked up at Dorothy and exclaimed in surprise, "Me?"

Dorothy shot that idea down, "No. Your situation is unique but the guardian was a dragon type guardian ἅrm. He was extremely powerful."

"Where is it now?" Alviss asked.

Dorothy sounded exasperated and exhausted, "I don't know. Look. I don't know everything okay? Now I'm going to bed. Wake me up later."

"Wait," Alviss stopped her just when she reached the door, "There's one last thing I wanted to ask you. Ginta described the woman who took the princess's counterpart as possessing a blue spiral on her face, the one you identified as Lachesis. However, the one who held the trial was Lachesis and she had a tattoo of a red blade."

"I noticed that myself. I don't understand either but based on the ἅrm she used today, it would make sense she is Lachesis of the Heavens. Perhaps I was mistaken. I only know about them through rumor and books anyway," Dorothy said as she opened the door and walked to her room.

Once outside she thought, "But there's no way I could have gotten it wrong."

In the morning, the team headed out to the grounds of the castle, the place where everything began and ended in the last War Games.

Waiting for the seven heroes of the last war were the ten Cross Guard members that survived the fight. They all bowed upon the group's arrival and accompanied them to the center. In the center, Ginta saw the face he was expecting.

Pozun greeted the finalists, "Hello and Congratulations for making it out alive. In a few moments, when everyone else is here, I will explain the rules of this tourney."

"Why are you the referee again?" Ginta asked curiously.

Pozun sighed, "I did such a good job last time I was asked to do it again. Let's leave it at that."

Ginta seemed to accept that. He didn't dislike the little guy. He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

A moment later, six black robed figures appeared in front of them. One of the hooded figures stepped forward and took off his shroud.

"Rolan. Why are you here?" Ginta asked the knight.

Rolan smiled without a trace of warmth, "There are three lives here I want to take. I couldn't care less what happens to the world after that."

Stepping forward, Alviss gave a short bitter laugh, "You truly are insane now Rolan. What happened to the childlike demeanor and kindness you had before?"

Without answering him, Rolan stepped away and walked towards his team. Without looking back, Rolan said loud enough for all to hear, "All of us here have a goal. For whatever reasons we may have, we will see them through. Try to survive until you face us."

Dorothy puffed her cheeks in mock anger, "What a jerk!"

"Can't blame him. I was the same when I thought the Boss died," Alviss said, his gaze on Rolan's retreating figure, "When the time comes, I'm going to be the one that fights him."

"Of course," Ginta and the others nodded their consent.

"Well, I can't believe my own eyes. Ginta is that you?" a voice called out from behind the group.

Ginta looked in the direction of the voice and happily yelled, "Nanashi and um…"

"Galian," Galian supplied.

"Yeah. Galian. Got it. It's great to see you guys. Are you fighting?" Ginta asked excitedly. Now the whole group was almost together.

Nanashi nodded, "We're the only participants from Luberia. A lot of our guys died but more were able to run away in time."

"I'm sorry to hear that but it's nice to know we have some more helping hands," Alan said.

Something clicked in Galian's head and he spoke in a cool manner, "That's right. We're here to help but we want something for our services. After all, we can't possibly help for nothing."

"Galian," Nanashi warned. These people were his friends and he wasn't going to charge them.

"What do you want?" Alan asked bracing himself to have to ask the king for a large sum of money.

"A promise from all the leaders of this world to prevent something like the War Games and Chess assaults to ever happen again. We want their word that they will put the people first for once," Galian spoke the feelings Nanashi had felt for a long time.

Alan held out his hand, "That shall be done."

Galian shook it. Truthfully, they were all sick of the fighting. Peace would be welcomed.

In a little while, the last of the warriors allowed to take part arrived. Pozun cleared his throat and began the explanation of how this would all take place.

"We have twenty nine fighters here. More than I thought but far less than there were yesterday. Oh well. Moving on. The rules will be a little different this time around. A team may only have up to six fighters. Caldia as the main opposition and organizer will send out teams to combat your groups.

"A team captain will be needed so choose one. Their loss or victory will count as two so even if they are defeated, your team may still pull through. Individual winners may continue advancing. Teams that win may have all the members continue on.

"This is the most important part though. At any time before a match, team members may leave or change teams as long as the new teams contain six or less fighters," Ponzu explained.

One of the robed members following Rolan interrupted the announcer, "Hold on a minute. That would mean a fighter can switch to a non-fighting team before a match at any time. The Cross Guard could just form new groups to ensure certain members advance."

Ponzu sighed. He disliked this aspect of his job. He cleared his throat and spoke in a straightforward manner, "When a team fights is completely random and decided after the time members can decide to change sides. A team that has fought the day before may have to fight again. Certainly, the group can thin out but that would only mean smaller groups will have to fight larger groups on their own. Even if your team is yourself, if you are chosen to fight, you will have to fight all the members Caldia has sent.

"Any and all ἅrms may be used. This will be no holds barred. Victory is decided when one or both sides are unable to fight. In the event that the battle ends in a draw for whatever reason, all individuals with at least one victory may continue on. Fighters can fight again only if their team consists of fewer members than their opponents.

"I think that's about all. Have a nice day. The first match will start in two hours. Please register your team by that time," Ponzu grinned and disappeared with Andata.

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Whew that was long winded and boring. Next chapter there will be fighting for sure. For now, please enjoy the image in your head of a monkey eating a banana with his feet. I'm too lazy to find the link so just imagine it.

Ginryuumaru- The meteors are part of the preliminaries similar to the fight a pawn thing with the Chess. The user cut back the power because otherwise this story would have ended last chapter. :l Thanks for reading and the reviews. I enjoy any feedback and inputs you may have.

Heartarrow- Thanks for staying in touch with the story. Hopefully you'll get past the boring stages of the story and enjoy the more actiony parts.

Reviews are nice and appreciated.


	7. Shiva vs Roku

No sooner did Pozun leave then two men dressed in half plate armor strolled up to Ginta's group. They were both Cross Guard from the symbol on their shield but there was a smaller symbol of a blue rose in the lower right corner. One of the men strolled up to Alan and reached out a hand. Alan took it.

"Sir Alan. Sir Gaira. I am Hyde of Lord Aris's regime. My companion Sir Igor and I hope to join your efforts on behalf of our good lord's name," the man said.

Alan appraised the two. Hyde was young and in his prime. He was likely no older than twenty. Hyde's bald head had a scorch mark on the top, likely from the effect of a nature ἅrm. A tragedy for one so young.

Igor on the other hand seemed like he should have retired long ago. He was well past the age most soldiers would have retired. He had a face covered in scars and wrinkles. His eyes looked half closed and he had a limp in the right leg.

"We are grateful for the help but I don't recall seeing either of you in the preliminaries with the other members. Why didn't you two seek us out last night?" Alan inquired.

Igor chose to answer. He spoke with a raspy voice, "Our lord ordered us to report the events to him. Then we chose to remain in our personal barracks back home rather than stay here."

Alan raised an eyebrow, "You two got hold of an Andata?"

"Our lord sent a servant for us," Hyde replied.

"Not to be rude," Gaira said as he joined the conversation. The others have long since dispersed to seek out who else had passed the preliminaries and try to enlist their help. "Sir… Igor was it? Can you really fight in your condition?"

Igor gave a toothy smile, "I wouldn't worry so much about myself Gaira. After all, the three of us are all a little long in the tooth."

Gaira coughed, "Fair enough."

"Welcome aboard," Alan said.

Ginta clenched and unclenched his fists in anticipation. Soon, the battles will begin. Regardless of who will be fighting, he felt that today was special. Something big was going to happen and he hoped he would be able to face it, whatever it was.

Jack saw his friend's anxiety and scooted next to him, "You know. We might not even fight today."

"I know but I can't help these butterflies in my stomach. It feels like they're going to burst out of me," Ginta gave a weak laugh.

Jack patted his shoulders, "We all feel that way. It's even worse now since we don't know when we will fight and who may die before we get a chance to end this whole mess."

Ginta sighed deeply, "It's just… for me it has only been two years since the last great battle. For you guys, it's been more."

"But for us, this is our everyday. We have more to protect… and more to lose," Jack pointed out.

Ginta mussed his hair, "Agghh. Alright. Enough of this negative talk."

Jack smirked, "Yeah. Let's talk about something else. Oh. Have you heard what happened to Belle?"

Ginta shook his head, remembering the little fairy that always followed Alviss around, "No. What?"

Jack chuckled, "Apparently, she ran off with a tree spirit. He was depressed for weeks. It's so funny that he wanted her to settle down and then he's depressed she's gone."

"If you have a daughter, you'll feel like that too," Ginta teased.

Jack stopped laughing, "No way. She's not getting married 'til she's thirty."

"Now you sound like one of those old fogeys," Ginta joked.

Jack looked shocked, "I look like Gaira? I thought I still had a few good years left."

Ginta laughed and then stopped just as suddenly. He offered a grim smile, "Let's go out there and win."

In one hour's time, Alan and Gaira had gathered all the members of the remaining Cross Guard and Team Mἅr as well as Igor, Hyde, and Galian. Combined, the force was twenty strong.

"A team can have no more than six members and we have twenty people here," Alviss stated.

"Twenty-one," Babbo interjected.

Alviss looked at Babbo and continued, "As I was saying, we have twenty combatants. Ideally, we would have had four more members to make four teams of six, thus maximizing our chances of winning. As that is not the case, the best solution would be to create four teams of five."

"Alternatively, we could form one or two teams of six and lower the number of members of the other teams," Gaira added.

"I like the first plan. It's better to have one fighter fight an extra time than to have multiple people fight extra times," Dorothy said after some consideration.

Alan nodded, "We never know if we will have to fight two or more times in a row. That would be the most sensible choice."

Ginta looked thoughtful, "But that won't work."

Alan nodded, "Most of the people here have never worked with you guys and vice versa. We can't chance in-fighting but we need to optimize our chances."

"That's why I proposed Alan takes four Cross Guard members and Gaira takes four. I will take the last two along with Igor and Hyde. The others will be in Ginta's team," Alviss said.

Dorothy reiterated, "So we're going with the first plan after all."

"Yes," Gaira held up a fist, "If any team should lose members, we can replace the players and form new teams."

"Sounds like a plan," Ginta agreed.

After the large group registered, they were told that the others had already registered and that the first match will begin in an hour's time.

An hour soon passed and the first team to fight was announced by Pozun.

"Well now, we have six teams in this battle. Four seem to be Cross Guard related, one seems to be Chess related, and one is apart from the others. I will pull out one of these orbs that contain the name of the teams. The one I draw will fight. These die in my hands will determine the location and number of fighters from Caldia," Pozun announced.

The little goblin reached into a clear box with six pitch black orbs inside. When he pulled one out, the darkness dissipated. Then he let the two die fall from his hand. The red dice showed a four and the blue dice showed a three.

"First match, three on three, Team Vigilance versus Team Dual. Andata take these three to the Mushroom Fields," Pozun declared.

When they were gone Alviss spoke with alarm, "Team Vigilance. If I'm right then we have another enemy to confront."

"Why's that Al?" Jack asked.

"They are a splinter group that resents the regime of the king. They have three leaders, all of whom are supposedly equal to me in strength," Alan elaborated.

"Then they are a part of the group that attacked Chimera and her husband?" Dorothy inquired, remembering the woman she fought in the last War Games.

Alan shook his head, "Not a part of. They began it."

At the Mushroom Fields, the fighters were already gathered. The place was like its namesake, a field of mushrooms. There were small mushrooms at the lower parts of the forest of mushrooms. The combatants would be fighting on large platform-like mushrooms. These have grown unimpeded for the last few millennia. Even an ἅrm could not destroy one of these large fungi.

In a moment, each side sent out one fighter. From Team Vigilance was a bald man. From Caldia, one of the black hooded figures discarded their robe, revealing a child.

"From Team Vigilance, Roku, and from Team Dual, Shiva. Fight," Pozun declared.

Roku was a large, sturdy brawler type. He had already brandished a large ax-like ἅrm that bursts into fire. His wife-beater and shorts hid little of the scars that covered his entire body. The permanent scowl on his face only served to add to his scariness factor.

Shiva, on the other hand, seemed like a shrimp next to the seven-footer. Barely cracking five feet and with a child's physique, he looked like he should be watching the battles, not participating. His short golden blonde hair and wide blue eyes only made him look more the part of a child.

"Hi! I'm Shiva, a Caldian warrior of age ten," Shiva proudly shouted.

Roku smirked and thought, "This match is in the bag." Aloud he said, "Shouldn't you be home with your mommy?"

Still smiling, Shiva spoke, "Oh my mom's dead. I killed her a while ago for siding with the Chess Pieces."

Roku's appeared taken aback. He was getting creeped out by this kid. What child will smile so happily about killing their mother?

He thought to himself, "Calm down. You knew there were going to be some freaks here. Just stay cool and concentrate. He's only a kid. Only a kid."

"Shall we start the game mister?" Shiva grinned, "Nature ἅrm Levitate."

With that, he leapt into the air above Roku and kicked him on top of the head. Roku grunted and swiped the blazing axe at Shiva. Shiva dodged in mid-air but Roku persisted. Using a combination of overhead and side cuts, he eventually managed to make a small cut on Shiva's chest down to his stomach.

Shiva screamed as his flesh started to burn. Roku laughed, "Hurts doesn't it? My flame axe cauterizes any cut it makes so you won't bleed to death. But the scar that remains is extremely sensitive to fire. I bet you can barely stand being near me right now."

Shiva forced a grin as his stomach started to retch. The fire was gone but the heat from the axe was making the wound feel like it was reset ablaze. "I could barely stand being near you before. Mister, you stink." He pinched his nose to emphasize his point.

Roku sneered and brought his axe up in an executioner's pose, "I'll take note of that." He swung the blade of the axe down towards Shiva's neck.

At the last moment, Shiva propelled himself away from the attack. Roku's attack however caught Shiva's leg and soon the wound started to burn. Howling in pain, Shiva rolled away from the giant. Roku chuckled and kicked the boy in the side.

Shiva, clutching his side in pain, tried to escape but Roku caught him with a firm grip around the boy's neck and flung him to the ground. Using his hands, Roku beat the poor boy. With a broken jaw, Shiva couldn't even surrender.

"How cruel!" Dorothy sadly whispered.

Jack angrily barked, "How can anyone do something like this? Even the Chess, even the Chess weren't. Dammit."

Ginta pounded a fist on the ground, "Why?"

"This is what a splinter group is. They get their revenge on those they think wronged them through torture and death. Eventually the torturers are corrupted like this man," Alan said through gritted teeth.

Gaira darkly spoke, "The problem is that man's ἅrm. It's one of the 66 torture ἅrms that were stolen from the castle treasury."

"I'm afraid I was the one who took them but I only counted 54 of those ἅrms. They were a priority one for reclamation. Caldia went into a frenzy searching for the missing twelve but six of these were never found," Dorothy explained.

"I suppose we know where the last six went," Alviss remarked.

Pozun was unsure whether he should call for the fight to end. The winner was clear but unless one dies or verbally surrenders, he couldn't end the fight until Roku stops. Sighing, he just watched the brutal pummeling.

The female of Roku's group spoke in a shrill voice, "C'mon. Just kill the kid already. This is just getting sad."

Roku snarled at her, "No, Jaka! I'm not done having fun yet."

Jaka barked, "Quiet fool. When we win, you can torture all the poor saps you want."

Roku grinned, "Alright kid. You heard the lady. You die now."

Shiva whispered in a faint voice incomprehensible words. Roku frowned. He strained his ear to hear what the boy said. Shiva smiled and spat in his ear, drool mixed with blood. The drivel hit Roku's left cheek.

"You cheeky little brat. No fast death for you. I'll kill you nice and slowly," Roku roared and resumed the pummeling.

The beating continued for five minutes. Spectators looked on in anger and disgust. Caldia, Vigilance, or Mἅr, no one seemed to care. All anyone saw was a grown man beating a child to death.

"Something's wrong," Dorothy thought.

Then it happened. With a loud crack, the boy's skull cracked and everyone knew he was dead. Satisfied, Roku walked back to where his team was.

Pozun looked at the corpse and shuddered, "Winner Ro-"

Before he finished the corpse stood on its feet. Roku turned at the sound and he felt a tremor of fear before sneering, "Back for more? Well bring it on."

He charged the corpse and struck it in the chest with his axe leaving a deep gash that started to burn. His laughter soon died when he saw Shiva's face. The boy was dead but he was still here.

"Dammit. Die. Die!" Roku hacked and slashed and eventually lopped off the boy's head.

Some onlookers screamed in terror at the brutality then again at the corpse picking up the head and reattaching it.

Roku started to back away, "W-what are you?"

The corpse started cackling and surged forward. The tackle cracked several of Roku's ribs and sent both reeling forward.

Roku screamed, W-wait. I gi-"

Before he could surrender, the corpse broke his jaw rendering his speech useless. It continued with breaking both arms of the giant. Roku howled in pain and then the corpse disappeared.

High in the sky, Shiva descended unhurt.

"Guardian ἅrm Dead Ringer creates an exact duplicate of me that I can switch places with at any time. Now to finish this, Darkness ἅrm Fear Ripper," Shiva explained.

The Darkness ἅrm distorted Shiva's right arm into a claw and with it, Shiva slashed at Roku's head. Nothing seemed to happen but Roku's eyes seemed distant.

Pozun believed the fight was over, "Winner Shiva."

Jaka descended and checked on Roku. Disgusted, she kicked him aside where he fell off the mushroom and into the depths. "What was the ἅrm you used just then?"

Shiva frowned for the first time, "That was cruel. Wasn't he one of your teammates?"

"He was garbage that couldn't finish off a child. Well, it doesn't matter. You troll. Start the next match. The Great Jaka will fight next," Jaka screeched.

"Fear Ripper, Ginta, uses the fear in a person to do a mental attack. The greater the fear in the person at the time of the attack, the greater the damage to the mind," Dorothy explained to the young warrior.

"What's the cost?" Alviss inquired.

"Intense pain in the arm for every second of activation, much like your Sealing Skull ἅrm but more limited," Dorothy explained.

Babbo interrupted the questioning, "The next fight is starting. This next fighter feels familiar but different."

"What does that mean?" Ginta demanded.

"It's like I met her before but I didn't," Babbo tried to explain.

"I feel the same way. We'll see," Alan spoke.

* * *

That took a while to write. I got a new game so I spent a lot of time on that. Hopefully I can finish the writing faster.

The fight was kind of dark and brutal eh? I try. Fight scenes are difficult to write though so sometimes the fights may seem too dark or too clean.

Review guys. It serves as a kick me up. Makes people write faster.


	8. Primera vs Jaka

A short little chapter. A short little fight. It's important though so read and review.

* * *

Primera vs. Jaka

"Next fight. From Vigilance- Jaka. From Caldia- Primera. Fight," Pozun declared.

Jaka frowned, "Where's your manners? Hiding behind a mask and robe?"

Primera said nothing. Jaka was getting ticked off, "Don't ignore me you brat. Fine! I'll just rip it off your corpse. Nature ἅrm Electro Whip. Nature ἅrm Chain Silver."

A whip crackling with the electricity appeared in Jaka's left hand and chains appeared from four silver orbs near Primera's limbs. These chains wrapped themselves around Primera's arms and legs, impeding the fighter's movements.

"I'm going to enjoy this," Jaka laughed as she brought her whip up in the air to lash out at Primera.

Primera's voice rang out before the whip can strike, "Nature ἅrm Ice Wall."

A pillar of ice erupted in front of her, shielding her from the whip. In another second, Primera's voice rang out again, "Dimension ἅrm Ice Chamber."

From below her ice formed and covered the fighting field. Before long the temperature of the entire area dropped significantly. Frost started forming on nearby mushrooms and snow started to fall. Jaka struggled to move and found she could not.

Ice had formed over her feet and frozen her legs. With a curse, Jaka slammed her whip at the ice repeatedly, causing the ice to shatter. When she turned back to her captive, a fist met her face. She went flying three feet away. It was only then that she noticed the set of strength increasing ἅrms on Primera's arms.

"You little bitch. I'll kill you. Guardian Crawler," Jaka yelled in rage. A light emitted from the armlet on her exposed left forearm.

Her guardian was a huge centipede type guardian. It was more than one meter long with huge pincers protruding out the front. It crawled towards Primera, intent on fulfilling its master's wishes.

Primera expertly dodged the centipede and produced an ice blade. Using the momentum from her flip, she lunged at Jaka. She was not prepared for the Jaka's whip crashing into the side of her masked face. Electricity surged through Primera's body and she laid there unmoving.

Jaka laughed, "The insect was only a distraction. That's what you get for hitting my face. Now to finish you off."

Summoning the centipede guardian once again, Jaka's face twisted into that of a sadistic monster. The Crawler ran its way towards Primera. When it leapt to attack the fallen warrior, it suddenly became trapped within a pillar of ice. The armlet on Jaka's left arm broke apart, signifying the death of the guardian.

Primera stood, the mask crumbling away, "Guardian Esprit, a snow fairy with a body temperature of absolute zero. Anything she touches freezes instantly."

When the mask finally crumbled away and the snowstorm cleared, the audience was finally able to see the results of the battle. Since the dimension ἅrm was used, no one was able to see what was happening in the fight. Now they were greeted with two pillars of ice and a familiar face standing in front of the pillars.

One pillar contained a giant centipede. One pillar contained Jaka, a shocked and confused look etched on her face. The cloaked figure's mask had broken and her face was both familiar and shocking to see. Turning back to her team, she snapped her fingers and the pillars shattered into countless shards.

"Koyuki!" Ginta yelled.

The others turned to him, understanding dawning on them.

Dorothy shook her head, "This was why they took her. As the one Snow is connected to, it's logical Koyuki's potential would be great."

Nanashi spoke up, "And if Ginta were to show up again and fight, there is no way he could fight against her."

"A cruel tactic," Gaira agreed.

Alan took out a cigar and lit it, "I have to respect them for thinking of all the possibilities."

"If they didn't kidnap the princess's counterpart, Ginta may have never returned to this world," Galian pointed out.

Alan took a deep drag, "How ironic. By being careful, they forced Ginta to act."

"I will save you. Just wait for me Koyuki. I promise," Ginta swore under his breath.


	9. Zero vs Kato

Zero vs. Kato

"Winner- Primera. Team Dual is the winner. All members are eligible for the next fight. However to judge the eligibility of the final fighter, a last match will be held. From Vigilance- Kato. From Team Dual- Zero. Fight," Pozun announced.

Zero was dressed exactly like Primera was, black cloaked and masked face. His mask was pure white with black tendrils reaching from the ends to the middle of the mask. Like Primera, Zero did not remove the mask or cloak.

Unlike Zero, Kato quickly removed his brown garb, revealing a full set of chain mail similar to that which Cross Guard members wore. His features were average save for the long scar running from his left temple through the mouth and down the throat.

"I did not expect much from those useless fools. But I had hoped for something more than this," Kato declared, "I am strong. Do not believe I am the same as the past failures. Return to me instruments of heaven."

From far below, a bracelet with a symbol of an axe and flames branching out from each side of the axe met at the other side of the bracelet. Some of the shards of ice on the ground soon gathered together and in its place an armlet with the symbol of a scorpion, a ring with a small crystal in the shape of a grain of rice, and a ring with a rectangular ruby on top with chains covering it in an "X" pattern. These armaments all flew towards Kato's outstretched hands.

He quickly equipped them all and brandished the axe of fire. Chains appeared and like with Primera, Zero was strung up. This time however chains wrapped Zero completely leaving only the torso and a part of the mask visible.

"Holy ἅrm Holy Link ties ἅrms to the wielder of Holy Link's life force. As long as I am alive, I can continue to recall even broken ἅrms to me as long as I give up a year of my life," Kato explained as he went up to the chained Zero and cut the exposed torso with the ax.

The blow met with a clank. Confused, Kato took another swing and heard a similar clank sound. Growling in frustration he took out the Electro Whip and wrapped it around the neck region of the chains. The electricity coursed throughout the chains and a muffled scream could be heard from the inside of the chains.

Suddenly, the exposed mask started to glow and Zero was standing exactly where Kato was standing and vice-versa. Now Kato was screaming. Too late did he realize the activation of the dimension ἅrm. Volts of electricity shocked him before he was able to deactivate both ἅrms.

"How dare… you!" Kato groaned as he fell into a heap on the ground, both arms supporting him so he would not fall face flat on the ground.

Rolan turned to one of his companions and pointed, "Hey Candace. That's like your…"

"My eye," she removed her shroud, "but it's slightly different."

"Because it's a mask not a glass eye?" Girom smirked.

"No nimrod. The exposed area was the lower left jaw area. My eye needs eye contact for activation. His just happened abruptly," Candace explained.

Rolan looked thoughtful, "Primera and Zero. Team Dual. Those two are likely the true members of this team. Shiva is strong but it's obvious he is far weaker than those two. I'm not sure if even I could beat them."

"You're joking," Candace said.

"Switching places. I should have expected such cheap tricks from the evil Caldians. But," Kato started standing, "As the chosen one, fated to stop evil, I will render judgment on all of you. Ghost ἅrm Blood Whipper."

A crunching sound could be heard as Kato's right arm elongated and sharpen. The end result was a long whip-like limb made from bone and flesh. The ends of the whip were protruding spikes made of bone.

"For my holy mission, even at the cost of my flesh, I will eradicate you all," Kato raised the whip and swung at Zero's head.

"It's just like back in my world. There are fanatics here too," Ginta muttered.

"I can't believe he has a Ghost ἅrm," Dorothy commented.

"That will to fight is why people rally behind him," Nanashi added.

Zero jumped. The whip, instead of slamming into the head, slammed into the rib area. The sharp ends embedded themselves in his side. Blood gushed out of the wound. Kato pulled back the arm and moved for another attack. Before it could hit, the whip was stopped by a winged being.

In the same monotone voice Primera spoke in, Zero said, "Guardian ἅrm Ȋnger."

Half of the being was entirely black, the other half entirely white. Except for its two blood-red eyes that bore no emotions, it was devoid of any feelings of life. It was a guardian without any shred of humanity or kindness. Its voice, monotone and emotionless, was a chilling whisper.

"In my hands I hold both salvation and destruction. Choose the one you desire," it said.

Two cards floated in its hands. From Kato's position he could not see what is written on each card. Jerking his whip-like arm, he found he could not.

"That guardian is restraining my arm. I am not fool enough to trigger that guardian's abilities. I can't back down, but what is that ominous feeling? And that form, it looks like an angel" Kato thought.

Kato sneered, "A guardian for a guardian."

Kato discarded the armor he was wearing and revealed some kind of golden band around his stomach. It glowed as he channeled his magical energy and summoned forth his guardian.

"Pass judgment Guardian Trafalgar," Kato declared.

A being dressed in long blue robes appeared. His long white beard and grandfatherly features made him seem kind. His eyes however betrayed the truth. In his eyes were a pit of contempt and scorn. Unlike the angelic being, the old man was filled with emotions. In his right hand he held a gavel and in his left a tome.

"In my hands I hold salvation and destruction. Choose your fate," Ȋnger repeated.

"My verdict for Zero is… guilty. The punishment is death!" Trafalgar screamed as his face distorted into that of a demon.

Trafalgar charged the angel. Gavel turned to blade. The demon slashed at the being holding the two cards only to be bounced back. Trafalgar charged again and again. Kato could only watch as every attempt his guardian made to destroy the opposing guardian failed.

After the fifth useless attempt, Ȋnger spoke, "Five times you tried. Five times you failed. If war is your desire, then destruction is your choice."

The cards in the angel's hands started spinning and became two spheres, one pure white light and one pure black shadow. The orb of light entered Zero's body and the blood flowing from his side stopped. It was as if time had rewound. The blood Zero had lost started to flow back into his body. When all of it was back, the wounds closed.

When that was finished, the orb of black flew towards Kato. Kato's guardian moved to intercept the orb but the orb passed right through and entered Kato's body. Then Ȋnger disappeared.

Kato checked his body for any damages. Finding none he scoffed, "That was it? What a waste of time. Trafalgar kill him."

Trafalgar did not move. It gazed at its two hands and started screeching. The hands were falling apart. In moments, the guardian turned completely to dust.

"No! No! No! This can't be happening to me," Kato screamed as he too started to become dust, "I am the chosen one. I was chosen as the arbitrator of vengeance. All the villains I have hunted down and tortured so they will feel the same pain the families who lost loved ones felt. So why? Why am I being punished for doing the right thing?"

He started running towards Zero, still falling apart. Arm outstretched for the hands were already disintegrated, he made to seem to tackle Zero. Before he could, he died. Only dust remained to indicate he was here. Pozun walked over and cringed. Nothing remained of either guardian or contender, only two piles of grain.

Pozun cleared his throat, "Winner- Team Dual. All members advance to the next round. We will begin the second match tomorrow."

With that, all the remaining fighters and Pozun disappeared having used Andata. The only things left behind were shards of ice and a trail of dust. In a moment, those two were gone, blown away by the winds.

* * *

It took a while to write this. Well not really. I just needed to focus. If I do say three updates a week I should be done with this in about three months. Then again I'm guessing in a best case scenario. I'm prepping for college since I'm a senior now. (Whoop de doo) so updates may be irregular.

heartarrow56- First. Thank you for being such a dedicated reader. I hope you continue to enjoy this. Secondly I think I never did answer how to get the two dots bit. If you go to symbols you can find it there. That's what I did but there is probably some kind of command key combination you can use.

Alright. That concludes round one. Review guys. Ain't that hard.


	10. Vice

I felt like adding a dash of character depth here and there. A beak between fights are always good. Anyways, there isn't any real importance in this chapter. Just an introduction of a new character that won't show up too much -_- and a dash of love and life for Alviss.

Read and review guys.

Disclaimer- not mine

* * *

After the first match ended, Alan called all the members of Team Mἅr to a central meeting room in the castle. Apparently, Gaira and he have come to some sort of decision during the course of the first match. Alan had told them all to wait for Gaira to return before they held the meeting.

When Gaira walked in, three other members of the Cross Guard flanked him- Igor, Hyde, and an unknown member.

Gaira cleared his throat, "Alright. Listen up. As we could all see from the first match, Caldia isn't pulling any punches. After the second battle, Alan and I decided to send the entire Cross Guard home. These three behind me are a bunch of idiots but they are brave and willing."

"You know Igor and Hyde. The third man is Vice," Alan introduced.

"**The** Vice? The fourth strongest member of the Cross Guard during the first War Games? I thought he was declared invalid," Dorothy remarked incredulously.

Ginta looked hard at the legend. Vice was as tall and buff as Alan and Gaira but for some reason Ginta cannot see the man fighting. Perhaps it was the careful manner in which Vice sat down or the way Vice moved but Ginta pictured Vice like glass. At any moment, the man could break.

Alan, seeing the look on Ginta's face, said, "Vice isn't fighting. He didn't even take part in the preliminaries. I asked him here to help with training. Obviously, we will all need to train more to increase our strength but neither Gaira nor I could afford to open the Training Gate ἅrm due to the format of the matches. Thus we asked Vice to help us with that."

"So now we have Alan, Gaira, Hyde, Igor, Jack, Ginta, Nanashi, Galian, Dorothy, and me. With this many warriors, our best bet is two teams of five," Alviss pointed out.

"I agree but we will need a good way to split up the teams. Trust is a big issue in the coming battles and well, quite frankly, I can't work with those two," Dorothy pointed at Igor and Hyde.

"Quite understandable. That is why I suggest Luberia, Jack, Ginta, and you form one team. The Cross Guard will be the second team. The heroes of the first and second War Games will work independently but together at the same time to save this world again," Vice's voice was raspy but true. He seemed a bit happy and sad at the same time.

"I'm sorry the Dreamer will not be able to fight with us," Alviss lowered his head as a sign of respect.

Vice laughed then quickly coughed, "Me too. But I have faith in these two teams. I know you will pull it off."

With that, he slowly got up and left. Hyde and Igor followed suit shortly after. Eventually, everyone left. Outside the hall, in the courtyard, Ginta caught up to Alviss and Dorothy. Not wanting to interrupt their conversation, he hid behind a statue of a warrior holding a sword.

"Different teams eh?" Dorothy grumbled.

"It can't be helped. This is the way things have to be," Alviss sighed.

Dorothy waved him off, "With all of you Cross Guard, duty comes before anything else. Rest, laughter, love, even your own life comes later."

Alviss tried to place a hand on Dorothy's shoulder but she walked away. He dropped his hand and spoke softly, "I want a world where everyone can laugh and be happy. If it costs me my life, then so be it. I love this world."

"And you want to protect it. I hear that so much I feel sick," Dorothy placed a finger in her mouth to simulate her barfing.

Alviss chuckled and Dorothy grinned, "Hey Al?"

"Hm?" Alviss responded.

"You told me once there was a girl you loved right? When I asked who, you said I would only tease you about it. I wouldn't have you know," Dorothy commented.

"Yes you would. Alan, Gaira, and even Jack would have too," Alviss argued.

Dorothy laughed, "Yeah we would have but it wouldn't have been mean. At least, I wouldn't have been. It would be friendly jostling and such. None of you guys teased me about Ginta after all."

"You have a huge maniacal mutt that would eat anything you tell it to. 'Course we wouldn't have teased you," Alviss pointed out.

"Hey! I wouldn't have Toto eat you guys. Not all of you anyways. I wouldn't want him to get sick," Dorothy half-joked.

"Is that so?" Alviss mumbled as he stared at the fountain. Ginta gulped. This was a very private talk and if they catch him eavesdropping then he wasn't sure if he would make it out alive.

Luckily for him, Alviss only bent over and picked up one of the stones in the water. He held it up in the light and said seriously, "I don't want ἅrms to be gone from this world. I mean, sure, we could probably create ἅrms like Jack's shovel but they would be like this stone, devoid of life and essence. I've lived my whole life just trying to be stronger through my ἅrms. The thought of life without them, I feel a bit empty inside.

"That's why I have to fight. I don't want to lose anyone or anything ever again. As long as I can do that, it doesn't matter if I can't be with who I love."

Dorothy hugged him from behind. Alviss dropped the stone in surprise. Then she quickly let go. "You're a kind and strong person Alviss. Even without ἅrms, I think you'll be fine. Besides," she grinned, "You're supposed to be the arrogant jerk not the depressed mourner."

"I'm not a jerk," Alviss said in mock protest.

"You're the biggest jerk I know but I think that you don't need to worry. Whoever you love will have to be an idiot to not like you back. But," Dorothy paused and gave Alviss a weird look, "I never thought the day would come when the Great Alviss would be so emotional. Or are you on your period?"

Alviss sputtered, "Dorothy!"

Laughing, Dorothy left him to his thoughts. Alviss walked behind the fountain and bumped into Ginta.

His eyes narrowed in surprise and fear, "Ginta. How long have you been here?"

Ginta stammered, "Uh. Not long. Just recently."

Alviss seemed to relax a little, "Did you need something?"

Ginta looked confused for a second before he remembered what he was thinking about, "I- uh- wanted to know who that Vice guy was."

Alviss heaved a sigh of relief and all the tension in the air seemed to drift, "Oh sure. I can tell you. Anyways, did you recognize this statue?"

Ginta shook his head no. Alviss explained, "This statue is made in honor of Vice. There are statues of Alan and Gaira as well as your father here as well. For that matter, there are several of you as well."

Ginta looked dumbstruck, "Me?"

"You saved Mἅr heaven once so you're a hero. Vice is one as well," Alviss remarked.

"Why is he called the Dreamer? Is it because of his ἅrm?" Ginta asked.

Alviss scratched the back of his head, "Partly. Vice, in the first War Games, was an idealist. He joined the Cross Guard to make peace with the Chess and even proposed an alliance of sorts with the Chess Pieces so that no more lives would be lost. Of course his ideas were completely rejected. Still, even to the end of the War Games, he still tried to protect as many as he can.

"You know, in the first War Games, he was the only one that did not kill his opponent. He always spared their lives. The truly amazing thing was that prior to the war Games, his entire family was killed. If there is anyone in this world that can be called a living saint, Vice would be the one."

"Sounds like quite a guy," Ginta spoke in awe.

Alviss chuckled at Ginta's face, "Yes. I hated his refusal to kill when I was a kid. I even insulted and attacked him on more than one occasion but he always forgave me."

"You Alviss?" Ginta imagined a younger Alviss attacking a man twice his size.

Alviss laughed, "Yup. I was hotheaded back then. It was Vice that taught me to stay cool."

Ginta stopped right before the entrance back inside Reginlief, "Why is he an invalid?"

Alviss paused, "So you picked up on that?"

Ginta nodded, "It was kind of hard not to. Dorothy's right though wasn't she?"

"In the first war, he lost different parts of his body- ribs, parts of his intestine and stomach, and even part of his heart. Yet, in his last fight, a knight whose name I have forgotten struck him with a curse and now he is incapable of synching with any sort of ἅrm save for dimension," Alviss explained solemnly.

"But he's still here," Ginta pointed out.

Alviss smiled one of his rare smiles, "Yes. He is."


	11. List

An extremely... short chapter. I just felt it would be better to start and end each fight on its own. Late update and short chapter but school started and I just realized I had to read two books about 350 pages each and then write a report. Didn't leave much time for writing. If I can I would like to update in say three days so let's see how things go from here.

Disclaimer- Nada

* * *

**Team Cross Guard- Alan, Gaira, Alviss, Hyde, Igor**

**Team Mἅr- Ginta, Jack, Nanashi, Dorothy, Galian, Babbo (out of respect he is listed)**

**Team Chess Pieces- Rolan, five unknown members**

**Caldian warriors- Dorothy (defected), Zero, Primera, Shiva**

The list was up in the morning. Every member of each team was listed. The members of the Chess were not revealed though Ginta could guess whom they may be. On the other hand, everyone on his side was revealed.

"I hope everyone has seen the list. Caldia believed because of the member change clause, they will mention who is on what team during every round. That way, if you are betrayed, you may quickly single them out and do whatever you feel necessary. After all," Pozun cackled, "It isn't against the rules to attack each other in between matches."

"You little toad. Why don't you do something useful and just announce the match today?" Dorothy snapped.

Pozun sighed, "A referee's job is never done."

Materializing the box out of thin air, three spheres with the teams' names appeared as well and were quickly shrouded in darkness. Pozun let them enter the box. Giving the box several good shakes, he pulled one sphere out. In his other hand, he let fall the red and blue dice. The red showed a two and the blue die showed a five.

"Second round of the War Games III… The victors of the first War Games, the Cross Guard will fight against team Pinnacle of Caldia. Five-vs.-five here at Reginlief Castle," Pozun declared.

Instantly Alan realized what was about to happen, "Everyone back away!"

A huge stone platform fell from the heavens right where some spectators were. Alan glared at Pozun who merely shrugged as he did in the last War Games. Six Caldians, robed as usual, appeared on the stage. While five others promptly left the stage, one other remained. Getting the message, Alan motioned for his team to head for the stage as well.

"Caldia has already selected their first combatant. If the Cross Guard does not send a combatant soon, I'll have to assume it's a forfeit," Pozun stated.

"Hang on a sec!" Alan barked, "We need a minute."

Turning to his companions, he asked, "Who's first?"

"I'll go. These Caldians are so arrogant they won't even reveal their faces to us. I will teach them their place," Hyde declared and walked onto the stage.

"First match featuring Hyde of the Cross Guard and Po of Caldia here at Reginlief. Fight!" Pozun declared.


	12. Hyde vs Po

Hyde vs Po

"Let's not waste time. I'll end this in one move," Hyde sneered, "But first, I would like to see the face of the first Caldian casualty."

Po had a high-pitched laugh, "I'll like to see you try."

With his robe off, Alan sucked in a breath. Po looked exactly like Chaton. He had the same wide eyes and goofy smile. His healthy paunch made him look nearly harmless. If it wasn't for his orange colored fur and twin-tails, Alan would have expected Po to be a relative of Chaton. Alan heaved a sigh of relief. He had grown rather fond of the cat and would not like to potentially hurt or kill one of her relatives.

"A cat? I feel insulted. Caldia must be underestimating us to send out a lower class reject," Hyde growled.

Po's eyes narrowed, "I don't like you. You die now"

Hyde raised his right hand and a ring-type ἅrm started to glow, "Enough wasting time. Dimension ἅrm Coliseum Cage."

The ground started shaking. Four pillars arose from the earth, one in each corner of the square ring. Once the pillars were set, four walls of stone rose and met in the center, encasing both fighters and their teams in a stone prison.

Po looked around, "W-what's this?"

"You don't need to know. Weapon ἅrm Alexander," Hyde replied. A two-handed broadsword appeared in Hyde's hands. The white blade and the golden hilt were enshrouded in a white incandescent glow. The blade hummed of violence and death.

From Alan's vantage point, he could feel the heat radiating off the blade. More than that, he felt a twinge of sadness looking at the blade. The blade seemed alive in a way, not that living weapons were uncommon. There was Babbo and Dandarshian to name two. Yet unlike those two, the blade was silent fury incarnated and he felt he would be swallowed whole by the blade just by looking at it.

Hyde charged Po. The cat-like man shrieked and rolled away, taking a deep cut in his side that burned. That burn started to spread and soon engulfed him. Screaming, he constantly pleaded for his holy ἅrm to work.

"It's useless. Coliseum Cage traps two sides into a death match where only one may emerge alive. Weapons are the only things allowed in this sacred battlefield. Holy ἅrms, darkness ἅrms, even those guardians you are all so proud of, all are rendered powerless in this field, but I suppose you can't even hear me now can you?" Hyde coldly stated as he watched the ashes of Po burn away.

With Po's death, the dome started to break apart into the dust from whence it came. Hyde leapt off the stage and walked back to his team.

"Winner- Hyde of the Cross Guard. Next combatants please step forward," Pozun said, a bit taken back by how fast the first match ended.

Another robed figure emerged. The man unveiled himself right away and spat on the stage, "I can't believe Po died so easily. He is such a failure. The pinnacle of healing was unable to heal. Pathetic."

"I'll go. I don't like how he is stepping on the memory of his comrade," Alviss said as he leapt into the arena.

The man frowned, "Alviss, one of the heroes of the last War Games, is my opponent?" Then he sneered, "How fortunate. If it was Alan or Gaira there would have been no way for me to win."

"What do you-" Alviss began.

Pozun interrupted him, "Second match- Alviss of the Cross Guard vs. Peru of the Pinnacles. Begin!"

* * *

A nice short fight with no real impact on the main storyline :p. I just wanted to make it so that Caldia doesn't seem too overpowered from the first fight. In no way does that mean the Cross Guard will sweep. I mean that would be lame and destroy the plot. Po was a sacrificial lamb since I needed to highlight the strength and personality of Hyde.

Next up is of course a fan favorite. Alviss is finally up. As for which team will fight Caldia next, I thought I might roll a dice for real ^o^.


	13. Alviss vs Peru

"I want to know, before we fight, what did you mean by 'fortunate'," Alviss lifted a hand and the Thirteen Totem Pole- rod version appeared in his hand.

"You rely too much on that ἅrm. It will be your undoing," Peru screeched as he ran straight at Alviss.

Peru raised an arm and brought it down in a chopping gesture. Alviss held up the rod in defense and barely blocked the blow. In rapid succession, Peru let off a string of chops and punches. All were fended off by Alviss.

"Is this really it?" Alviss taunted.

Peru smiled but it was devoid of warmth, "You're better than I thought. I suppose I will have to use an ἅrm after all."

Alviss's eyes widened, "What did you say?"

"I wonder," Peru smiled again and charged.

This time, when he brought his hand down in a chopping gesture and Alviss made to block with the rod, Peru's hand smashed through the staff. His hand connected with Alviss's torso, right below the heart. Alviss could feel his ribs collapse under the pressure. At least three of them were broken.

Alviss was sent flying over fifteen feet. When he finally screeched to a stop, he saw Peru in the air and quickly rolled over, narrowly dodging the attack. As he tried to stand, Peru was suddenly over him, hand in a fist.

With barely a pause, Alviss used the Sealing Skull ἅrm to stop Peru's movements. Peru snarled and struggled to move. Alviss took the time to crawl to his feet. Sucking in deep breaths and keeping pressure on his wound, which was now bleeding profusely, Alviss tried to keep his head straight. The Sealing Skull ἅrm was powerful but the immense stress and pain were heavy prices to pay.

Peru scoffed, "You can't keep this up for long. Once I break free, you will die and you know that."

Alviss wanted to lie but he couldn't. He huffed, "High-speed Thirteen Totem Pole."

A supersonic totem pole shot out from under Peru and shot him into the sky. Alviss kept up the attack with three more strikes. When Peru finally fell onto the ground, Alviss silently prayed, "Don't get up. Please stay down."

His hopes were shattered when Peru got up easily and brushed his shoulders of the dirt. Peru looked at Alviss, "Is that it? I am surprised that Totem chain was not completely destroyed from my strike, and even more so that you could use it. However, there's no way you can defeat me."

Alviss forced a grin, "I have enough magical power to use one final attack."

"A Baoa Qu. True. That guardian is powerful but," Peru glared, "do you truly believe an incomplete guardian can defeat me?"

"Incomplete?" Alviss thought, "No. Worry about that later."

Alviss concentrated his magical power into one point, "I won't give up! Guardian A Baoa Qu!"

A skull with a long jawbone and eight bone petals protruding from the sides of the skull emerged, surrounded by a dark aura. The skull head and the jawbone separated and in the center a large eye appeared. The eye glowed and encased Peru in a sphere.

Within the sphere, Peru spoke clearly, "Nature ἅrm Mach 3."

He raised one fist and blasted a hole in the sphere. As the rest of the sphere collapsed and shattered to pieces, Peru fell to the ground, a crater formed from his crash to earth. He quietly looked up at Alviss's still figure.

"Are you so shocked that you failed? You are pathetic," Peru spat, "Out of respect for your actions in the last war, I will grant you this one life. Next time we meet, I will kill you."

Though neither declared their own loss and neither were dead, it was obvious who the victor was. Alviss watched as the man with short red hair walked away from him. In his head, the image of the muscular man devoid of any wounds was seared into his vision and he vowed to never feel this absolute loss ever again.

"Winner- Peru of the Pinnacles. Match is set at one to one. May the next fighters stand up," Pozun declared.

Alan walked up to Alviss and hoisted the limp man over his shoulders. He dropped Alviss off by Gaira and indicated for the old man to take care of Alviss's wounds. He noticed Hyde's and Igor's disapproving stares at Alviss.

Shaking his head, he walked up to the stage and declared, "I'm next."

Another Caldian stepped forward and discarded his robe. Looking up, he eerily said, "Do you know me?"


	14. Alan vs Leir

It's been a month. I haven't given up on the story. I just had a lot of work this past month. Actually, I've written this chapter a while ago but didn't have time to post it. Yes, it only takes 5 minutes but it takes a while for my laptop to be "stable enough" to hold an internet connection.

Anyways, Alan's fight. It's deviated a bit from what I wanted so...

Disclaimer- not mine

* * *

Alviss looked at the man. He was covered in bandages, alternating black and white. He had an armlet around both wrists. Otherwise, there was nothing striking about the man. Alan could not recognize him.

Alan shook his head. He was about to speak as the man seemed to become three. Closing then reopening his eyes, he only saw one image.

Pozun shouted, interrupting Alan's thoughts, The hero of two War Games Alan of the Cross Guard versus the Pinnacle Leir of Caldia. Ready. Fight!

Do you know me? Leir asked again.

No. Should I? Alan replied, still seeing Leir but something was wrong. His eyes were leaden but he wasn't tired. His arms felt heavy but he knew he could still move them.

Wary, Alan braced himself for some sort of attack. Nothing happened. Leir was repeating himself like a broken record but he made no indication of an attack. Alan's body felt heavier but none of his senses were dulled. He could see Leir. He could smell the lingering scent of burned flesh. He could hear Leir muttering away and the cheering of the crowd. Alan could even taste his own saliva and feel the press of his clothes on his body.

Alan felt more awake than ever. Thinking that he was overthinking things or Leir may just be satisfying a condition to summon a guardian or use a darkness ἅrm, Alan raced off and caught Leir with a punch solidified by the Air Hammer ἅrm. He could feel his fist connect but it felt strange. His hand was burning. Somehow, Leir did something to his hand at the moment of impact and now it was burning.

Pulling back, Alan could hear Leir's monotone voice repeating the same words over and over again. The more Leir said them, the more aware Alan was of everything. Alan could now hear the fountain on the other side of the castle. He could see the very fabric of Leir's clothes if he squinted. His body felt like lead.

What is this? Alan struggled to speak. His tongue felt like it was on fire. A myriad of flavors seemed to be exploding in his mouth at the same time. He tasted spice, sugar, salt, and paste. He tasted flour, sweat, and dirt. Every time the wind blew, he tasted something new. Then he tasted blood. Inadvertently, he had bitten his lower lip.

The pain was a sharp message to the brain. It was like a whale shark had just taken a bite out of his mouth. But it also woke him up and numbed his mouth. Alan realized that if he could somehow dull the receptors in his ears, eyes, and nose he could defeat Leir. Raising his right and left hands, painfully aware of how his muscles are burning and contracting to meet his demands, Alan gathered his magic into one point.

Then releasing it in an instance, he painfully cried out, Guardians Bumoru. Guardian Saint Anger!

From above, two hands, covered in majestic blue armlets, appeared. These hands, unconnected to a body, boasted a powerful force. In terms of raw power, amongst all the ἅrms in the possessions of the Cross Guard and Team Mἅr, it was by far the greatest of them all.

From below, on the ground next to him, an overweight cat-woman appeared with a stern look on her face. In the gallery, Jack cringed. Bumoru's arms started to glow.

Impressive Alan, Peru applauded, You certainly are the commander of the Cross Guard now that the Boss is gone. To summon forth a guardian, and the holy arms of the great saint of war at that, under the conditions the Pinnacle of the Senses placed on you, Caldia is impressed. This battle is yours.

As he said those words, Saint Anger crushed Leir from above. The poor man could only watch as the praying fists squashed him.

Winner- Alan of the Cross Guard! Pozun declared.

How did Saint Anger hit Leir with Alan in his condition? Ginta wondered in amazement.

Dorothy explained, Ginta. You've met Merilo correct?

Ginta nodded. Dorothy continued, During our time in the training gates, we've been confronted with many ἅrms. The shadowmen, the monsters, and even the inside of the dimension itself are maintained by those two as Alan told me. Those two have an independent magical energy source weak as it is.

Nanashi cut in, In this case, Alan supplied the power. That guardian then utilized Alan's Saint Anger and directed its might towards Leir.

A powerful ability indeed. With guardians like that Alan doesn't require any of his senses, Galian added.

Yeah, Nanashi muttered his agreement.

Dorothy shook her head, No. If that were true, why didn't he summon one of them beforehand?

Ginta spoke up, I've never seen him use them in the last War Games either, even when he was up against Chaton.

It's a mystery, Nanashi commented.


	15. Gaira vs Cobbo

First of all I would like to apologize for the break I took. I had to finish my college apps in addition to clubs and regular projects. Now that apps are done though, I should be updating much more often. I say in three four days ill update again. Winter break y'all. Secondly I just want to thank my readers especially heartarrow56 and KuroiNeko89. One's a new reader but the other has been with me since the beginning and since it is post christmas and pre new years I just wanna say you guys are all awesome.

Disclaimer- haven't done this for a while so chorus- no no no noooo ooooohhhh oh nooooo it's not miiiiiiine

* * *

As the dust settled, Alan was able to gaze upon the body of his opponent. The bandages surrounding the man's face were gone. As he peered closely at what remains of his opponent, he was shocked to see a charred face. To his horror, Leir was still speaking the same line.

"Do… you…know…me?" Leir was repeating.

Alan gritted his teeth and turned his back, "No. I don't."

"Next players please," Pozun declared.

"Players," Alan said as he walked back, "I suppose we are just playing in some sick game."

"A game we have to win," Gaira grunted his assent, "I'll go."

As he stepped into the fray, the Cross Guard third-in-command felt strangely calm. He looked at the sky and grinned. It was a beautiful day after all.

Gaira looked ahead as he reached the stage. He saw his opponent, a great hulk of a man. If his hunch was right, this hulk was the pinnacle of strength.

"Gaira of the Cross Guard vs. Cobbo of the Pinnacles. Fight!" Pozun shouted.

Gaira smirked at the name Cobbo. The hulk did not look amused, "What you laughin' at?"

"You're the pinnacle of strength correct?" Gaira asked instead.

Cobbo nodded, "Yup. I'm strong. Po heals. Peru breaks. Leir commands. Zero ends."

Gaira's ears perked up, "Zero? The member of Team Dual?"

"Yup but he isn't a pinnacle. He's just-" Cobbo got cut off by Peru.

"Shut up fatso. Why don't you tell him your weaknesses while you're at it?" Peru shouted furiously.

Cobbo shrank back, "Sorry Peru. I just got so excited and let my mouth run loose. Won't happen again."

Peru shouted yet again, "Face forward idiot. He's attacking."

Cobbo managed to turn just in time to see a fist coming towards his face. A powerful crack could be heard as flesh met flesh. Cobbo was sent flying three feet from where Gaira now stood.

Gaira smirked, "I'm glad I'm fighting a brute like you. It's way more enjoyable than trying to hunt down a long range fighter."

Enraged, Cobbo charged Gaira, "Weapon ἅrm Giant's Cutter."

A gigantic axe materialized in Cobbo's right hand. He flexed his arm like the ax weight was nothing. He grinned, "Why have one ax when you can have two?" Another ax of the same size appeared in his left and he charged Gaira.

As Cobbo swung each ax on opposite sides of Gaira, Gaira only sighed in contempt, "It's like fighting a child."

Gaira waited until the axes were a breath's distance from his sides before taking a large step forward and connected his fist with Cobbo's gut. The force of the hit sent Cobbo flying back and landing on his rump.

Cobbo coughed and struggled to get up. Gaira let him. Raising both axes again, Cobbo roared and charged again.

This time, as the axes closed in on his sides, Gaira backfisted both weapons and shattered them both. Cobbo stared blankly at what remained of his axes. He blinked twice before slowly backing away from Gaira.

"H-How did you? These were axes forged from dragon's bones. No human could break these and I didn't see you use a weapon either," Cobbo stammered.

Gaira grinned and raised both fists in front of him, "Fool. A man's only weapon is his fist."

"Alan's amazing. I don't think I could beat him even with Alexander," Hyde said in awe, clearly impressed by Gaira's inhuman strength.

Alan muttered, "It also helps that he is using the Weapon ἅrm Collusion that had been infused with the power of four gems."

"Did you say something Alan?" Igor asked.

"No. Nothing. Hey. I think Gaira's going to end this," Alan changed the subject.

"First strike- Palm," Gaira grunted as he stepped in and hit Cobbo's gut with a palm strike. There was a yelp from Cobbo before he started to foam at the mouth and blood mixed with saliva and lunch flowed out of the hulk's mouth. He collapsed on Gaira's arm.

Gaira lifted him and tossed the hulk to the Caldian team. He sighed angrily, "Now I need to wash this outfit. Guess I could use a bath."


	16. A Flaw in the Plan

See. I made the 3-4 day deadline I set. Nice huh? Well no real fighting. Next chapter there will be. But this is still necessary for some of the plot twists. Leave a review or flame whichever you feel is more deserving. It's nice for feedback. After all like some guys said "the only bad feedback is no feedback" or something like that.

* * *

"Aris!" Girom exclaimed in surprise. He did not expect the power-hungry lord to leave the confines of his castle.

Girom and Rolan had of course been watching the matches. However, after Alan's match, Rolan had suddenly decided to walk to the flower gardens in the opposite direction of the event. Girom, curious, went with Rolan.

Lord Aris looked around in fear, "It's King Aris to you jester. And do keep your loud mouth to a close. I would rather no one saw me in your presence lest they found out what-," he brought his voice into a whisper, "we are planning."

As Girom made to retort, Rolan stepped between them, "Of course. Please forgive my subordinate King Aris. After all, we are only acting under your great name. Now, if I may my lord, why have you suddenly summoned us?"

Lord Aris shifted nervously, "Well Sir Rolan, there appears to be a slight hindrance to our plan."

Rolan frowned, "How so?"

"The ἅrm you requested is, uh, how should I put it, not quite in my possession," Lord Aris stammered. He quickly added, "But it isn't my fault."

Rolan glared at the man and Lord Aris shrunk back, "Then whose fault is it?"

Lord Aris tried to look dignified and indignant but failed under Rolan's scrutinizing stare, "It's my wife's. The ἅrm was originally given to me through the joining our two noble houses. I would give her family the estate and privileges that they had lost during the first war when they were found to be secretly aiding the Chess Pieces. She, in turn, would give my family possession of all their rare ἅrms.

When we concluded our meeting, I immediately departed to the vault and laid my eyes on all the valuables stowed away inside. However, I could not find that ἅrm. I ran to her quarters and asked her for the whereabouts of the ἅrm. She laughed at me, claimed that she knew of our meeting, and declared that she could not possibly risk besmirching her family's name after the efforts she took to reclaim their honor. I beat her and threatened her but to no avail. I settled for imprisoning her and retrieving the other more valuable ἅrms and bestowing them on my greatest knights. I sent almost thirty knights but well, the only survivors appear to be my court advisor and my son Hyde."

Lord Aris gasped for breath after his long spiel came to an end. Rolan was deep in thought and asked the feeble lord, "Where is your wife now? I believe I can get some answers out of her."

Lord Aris looked uncomfortable, "She, um, died. Hanged herself."

Rolan frowned. He liked this man less and less, "Did you not post guards to ensure she wouldn't do such a thing?"

"What an idiot!" Girom scowled.

At Girom's insult, Lord Aris snapped, "Watch your tongue heathen or I-"

Rolan gripped the man's silk shirt and hoisted him three feet above the ground and spoke in a venomous tone, "The answer? My lord?"

Lord Aris hastily gave his reply, "I did but she had killed them. Her people were a barbaric race and she was raised by savages so my noble guards were unable to deal with her."

Rolan dropped him, "The note."

Lord Aris looked confused, "E-Excuse me?"

Girom snapped, "Did she leave a suicide note you buffoon. Something that may have hinted at the ἅrm's location. The ἅrm was ultra-valuable so she must have mentioned it or maybe confided the location among someone."

Lord Aris looked wounded, "Of course I thought she could have confided the location to someone. I had every person that may have had contact with her questioned, including her maids, servants, family members, and everyone else that may have entered the castle at any time. I used some torture methods to ensure they were telling the truth. For safety's sake, I also killed some of her family members in the vicinity claiming they were traitors. On the note, she threw curses and mockery at me. Also, she said she loved our son and wished the father was someone else."

"Did you question Hyde?" Rolan asked thoughtfully, "or Igor?"

Lord Aris scowled, "Of course not. Igor is my most trusted confidant. He was my tutor since I was a pup and absolutely loyal. In fact, he opposed my marriage and expressed his desire to eradicate her people instead. He couldn't have possibly had any contact with my wife."

"And your son?" Rolan asked.

"I went to him after my wife died and he told me he did not know. Besides, except for the first hours of his birth where the wretched woman seared his head and claimed it was a ritual her people did to crescent a newborn, I ensured the two never had contact except at the occasional dinner or party," Lord Aris spouted.

"You may leave us Lord Aris. After all, we can't have our relationship be discovered, "Rolan suddenly said as he dismissed the lord.

Lord Aris looked shocked at the casual dismissal but walked away with a snort of derision.

"When the time comes, can I kill him?" Girom sneered at the man's retreating figure.

"If I meet him anymore, you may have to wait in line Girom," Rolan muttered as he began walking in a different direction. Girom followed him, laughing.

Unbeknownst to them both, someone was watching the entire exchange and quickly disappeared to inform his leader of what is happening behind the scenes.

"Fifth battle of Round Three. From the Cross Guard Igor! From the Pinnacles- Leir! Both combatants at the ready and… fight!" Pozun yelled.

Igor stammered in his grating tone, "W-wait a min-minute. He j-just fought."

Leir spoke, "That was merely a corpse that I reanimated to do my bidding. I am the true Leir, the Pinnacle of Command."

"T-That sh-should be a f-foul," Igor spoke in his raspy voice.

Pozun casually explained, "It's allowed. It follows the same precedent as Pinocchion in the Second War Games and the Otherworlders in both. Neither was originally born on this world but they were allowed to fight so a corpse is not a violation of the rules."

"That's ch-ch-cheating," Igor snarled or tried to but he started coughing violently.

"Though I commanded it, it was the body's and soul's desire to get revenge that allowed it to be reborn from nothing more that melted flesh. Oh yes. The corpse may have lost its memories of its past life but its hatred towards Alan is what allowed its voice to reach to me amidst all the other souls lost in the Second War Games."

Alan pieced it all together, "Burned flesh. Its memory and hatred towards me. Me unable to recognize its face though we fought. It couldn't be. The corpse was Halloween?"


	17. Igor vs Leir

Sorry guys. Right after college apps, I had finals. I was halfway done with this and still couldnt find time to finish until like today. Anyways enjoy the next segment on "This Guy's a Nutjob". This will be a slightly more graphic fight than the otehrs thus far. You guys should be fine.

Dislcaimer- Not my series.

Disclaimer 2- This author is not responsible for any aggravation of current conditions that result from reading this story. Any new problems that emerge from reading this story is henceforth and preforth not my fault.

* * *

"Dead wrong, Alan," Leir sighed, "If the corpse was indeed of one as powerful as Halloween, then you would have likely have perished. Fortunately for you, the corpse that I gave the task of defeating you was of a Chess Piece, a weak one at that. Still, the vengeful nature of this particular rook's soul was strong enough to animate the corpse and imbue it with greater power than it had as a living being."

"A Rook…" Gaira muttered as he toyed with his mustache, "I don't recall Alan fighting any Rooks. It has been a long time though."

"Did anyone of us fight a Rook?" Dorothy mumbled.

Nanashi spoke up, "That girl Loco was a Rook."

"Pano was a Rook, same with her brother," Jack added.

"Kannochi and Ian were Rooks," Ginta stated, "Though Ian became a Knight later."

Alan shook his head, "But I don't remember fighting any Rooks. Do any of you remember?"

Everyone shook their heads. Leir shook his head as well, "You are cruel people. Perhaps the name Alaindeon rings a bell?"

Alan shook his head negative. Leir added, "You threw him in a volcano?"

Alan shook his head again and proudly declared, "I've fought a lot of people and thrown a lot of them into a volcano especially in the First War Games. I can't be expected to remember every lowlife I've killed."

Leir sighed and took one last shot, "He wore a turban."

Alan slammed his fist into his open palm, "Oh! That guy! I remember him!"

"Did you now? How did you ever remember?" Leir said sarcastically.

Alan ignored the sarcasm, "Did he resent me so much for throwing him in a volcano?"

Leir looked at him like he was an idiot, "You threw him in a volcano. I think anyone would be resentful."

Alan shrugged, "Fair enough but shouldn't there be others who want me dead besides that guy? You know. For throwing them in a volcano."

Ignoring him, Leir explained, "That was a demonstration of my ἅrm Vengeful Soul. With it, I can return the souls of those that seek vengeance and return them to their mortal bodies. Their strength is multiplied and they become bound to me in exchange."

"I d-don't really c-care f-fool. Just get on w-with the f-fight," Igor snapped.

Leir smiled at him, "Oh I will. Now then, the score is currently three to one. No, four to one. Po lost. Peru won, quite handed I must say. My puppet lost. And just now, Cobbo lost. Since Alan won, you guys get double to points. That means that even if my friend in the dark robes and I win, the rest of our team would be unable to participate. Well, they wouldn't have been allowed to fight again anyways."

Leir's eyes lit up, "I know. How about you and the one fighting again just surrender? That way, we can all be able to fight in the next round."

Igor frowned, "Y-you can't be s-serious."

Leir sighed and shook his head, "I didn't think so but I am a peaceful man. I dislike conflict."

"Would a peaceful man desecrate the peace of the dead to gain strength?" Alan snapped then winced as his wounds threatened to reopen despite the healing he was being given by Dorothy.

"Hold still or I'll do everyone a favor and just kill you," she growled. He did as she said.

"What do you know about what is right and what is wrong?" Leir snapped, "I am-"

"Enough!" Igor shrieked, "I am t-tired of j-just standing here w-waiting f-for you."

Leir glared at Igor, "My apologies. Let us begin."

"J-just t-" Igor howled in pain as he was struck a jarring blow to the chin which sent him flat on his back. Looking to see what hit him, Igor saw several floating hands of bone. "W-What?"

"Nature ἅrm Helper. It creates multiple hands of bone from the earth," Leir explained as the hands struck Igor again.

Igor grunted in pain and rolled away before lifting himself into a standing position. He spat out blood, "Brat! Take t-this. Guardian Franken."

From Igor's mouth, blood poured out by the gallon. Leir cringed and sent out the hands to strike again. They connected but the man didn't seem fazed as his blood freely poured from him. The blood formed a circle around Igor and soon stopped.

Suddenly the blood started to rise from all sides of Igor. The blood surged upwards and connected together to form a small cloud. The cloud plummeted to the earth and the audience gasped at the scene unfolding.

A small hand pushed its way out of the cloud. Then a second hand appeared. A small leg and foot made its way out. Another joined it. Then the cloud elongated and something akin to the head was formed. The end result was a small body in the shape of a small child.

At its formation, some of the audience hurled. The face was blank except for a stitched mouth. In a second however, the stitches started to break apart and the thing let out a grisly scream. Leir instinctively stepped back.

Dorothy gasped from where she stood, having finished the immediate first aid on Alan, "That isn't natural. I've never seen something like that before."

"What do you mean?" Gaira asked though he too could feel how horrific the thing was.

"It is something that should have never been borne into this world," a grave voice rang out from behind Team Mἅr.

"Elder," Dorothy gasped. Everyone able went into a defensive position.

The Elder ignored them, "This is a monstrosity. Something pure has been corrupted. I pity that poor, unlucky spirit that fell into the hands of an evil like that."

Dorothy held up a hand to signal to the others that the Elder was not here to fight. She took a step forward and asked, "Elder. What do you mean?"

The Elder scrutinized her carefully wondering if he should say anything but decided it would not be harmful to his side, "Dorothy my child, you come from a great line of creators. Your ancestors interacted with spirits and gave them form. This monstrosity was once a spirit that deemed to aid humanity. Now its mortal form has been tampered and defiled. It has forgotten its original form and is now lost forever."

"That's horrible," Ginta said, "Why would anyone want to do such a thing?"

"Power," Alviss said as he slowly rose into a sitting position, wincing at the sharp pain that invaded his body. Alan moved to steady the man. "Many guardians are either weak but numerous or strong but rare."

"If someone can somehow enhance the power of ἅrms like the Ring Armor, they can amass their own personal army," Nanashi chimed in.

"Since Igor wasn't even charging up magical power, that monstrosity must not require it, making it all the more dangerous," Alan added.

Ginta understood now, "An army of unstoppable guardians."

"You sick bastard," Leir snarled, dropping the attitude he had earlier, "How could you tamper with one of the most sacred laws of nature? That guardian will never be able to regain its original form. It will simply perish. How many other poor spirits did you kill for that one to reach that state?"

"Does it m-matter? T-They are only ἅrms. W-who cares?" Igor spat out.

Leir looked sick, "I changed my mind. I was going to spare your life but now," he raised his left hand and the ring on his middle finger began to glow read," I will make you pay for what you have done. My most powerful ἅrm Guardian Fibularais."

The earth began to tremor as a skeleton over three stories tall emerged. The stage broke in two from the powerful awakening. A loud 'crick' could be heard as the skeleton stretched its arms above its head. It slammed one fist into the monstrosity splattering it all over what remained of the stage.

As it prepared to slam its other fist into the frail body of Igor, Igor muttered, "Darkness ἅrm Attachment."

He too was squashed underneath the force of the powerful guardian. The crowd gasped in horror as some of Igor's blood and entrails flew near them. Some gasped. Some fainted. Some vomited. This scene was reminiscent of the horror they felt watching Igor's guardian come to life but it was nothing compared to the horrific end the man met.

Leir turned away as his guardian slowly dissolved into mist, "Good riddance to bad trash. I- what the?"

Leir looked down at his chest and saw a small red hand jutting out of it. He pulled away and looked behind him, "That l-last ἅrm he used… was to resurrect his abomination."

Unbeknownst to him and everyone else, Igor's guardian had reformed while Igor was killed. It had then pierced Leir's chest when the latter had turned his back. Now it smiled creepily at Leir as the man fell to the ground unmoving.


	18. Mad Scientist

Honestly I have no real excuses for the slow update this time. I was playing Oblivion and now realized why I couldnt beat any of the monsters there. Sigh. This chapters eh. No fight. Tune in next week if you want one. Oh and I'll reply to reviews for once. Sorry that I never did that before. I appreciate the feedback but I never replied so I feel like a heel. Anyways, enjoy.

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The homunculus disappeared into a small pool of blood as Pozun began his announcement, "The match is a dr-"

"Hold on. I'm still here," a voice rang out as Leir slowly stood. The wound in his chest was slowly closing and a small smile was plastered on his face.

Dorothy gasped, "How could he have survived that?"

The Great Elder peered closely at Leir's face and exclaimed, "No. Wait. This is-"

"Very astute my dear Elder. You see. The power of my Darkness ἅrm Attachment is that my soul is transferred to my guardian. I can temporarily take over my guardian. Normally, my body would be destroyed and my spirit discarded after a time. However, through… modifications on Franken, I am able to take over the corpses of the ones I killed," "Leir" explained. Then he walked over to "Igor's" body and opened the corpse's shirt. In the center is a foot long medallion crumbling into sand. "Unfortunately, Franken must be recreated."

"How much more will you spit on what we have cherished for centuries?" The Great Elder gravely asked.

"Leir" looked furious, "Until I am satisfied. Two hundred years ago, you cast me out from Caldia because of my research and experiments even though everything was for the sake of bettering our country."

"Is this true Elder?" Nanashi demanded.

The Great Elder of Caldia struggled to remember such a man, "I recall only one man within these last two hundred years other than Phantom and Diana who have earned the wrath of the Caldian people. This man had performed experiments on young and old alike, struggling to find a way to forcefully prolong his own short lifespan. However, before he could succeed, I personally hunted him down and killed him."

"Or so you thought," "Leir" smirked, "Unbeknownst to you and the rest of your flock, I had already succeeded. Unfortunately, your sudden arrival forced my hand. I was forced to merge my DNA with my creation and await your arrival. You destroyed my old flesh and the laboratory but I had already escaped through the sewers as an amoeba. I managed to take over a body but I quickly learned that my sprit would reject the body and cause its quick and eventual decay. That last body was thirty in age but within three years it became like that."

Alan narrowed his eyes, "He's been killing innocents for centuries. How did no one ever find out?"

"He was employed under that fool Aris. I doubt that man knew what he had for dinner let alone the activities of his subordinates," Gaira grunted in aggravation.

"How many people have you killed Igor!" Ginta yelled.

"Leir" smirked, "Igor was the name of that body. Like my original body, my original name is lost. So simply call me Leir. After all," He smiled coldly, "That is the name of the previous owner of this battle."

"Bastard. I'll kill you," Peru yelled as he ran on stage.

"Leir" held up a hand, "Nature ἅrm Helper."

Four hands of bone appeared and struck at Peru, sending the big man flying back. Peru gasped from the blows and readied himself to use an ἅrm to counter.

"Stop this Peru!" The Great Elder commanded, "This tournament was created so a global war would not be necessary. We will abide by the tournament rules. Do you understand?"

Peru glared at "Leir" before returning to where he stood.

"Ahem," Pozun cleared his throat, ""In this situation, I suppose the winner is the new 'Leir'. The matches mattered little since it was the Cross Guard's victory but if the old Leir had won then he would have been eligible for a next battle. The last match therefore is unnecessary but to test the eligibility of Caldia's last warrior, the Cross Guard will need to send out a fighter."

"It's that guy. Zero isn't he? If we stop him now, there will be one less worry for the future, but" Alviss began.

Alan nodded, "After that last battle, who would want to fight?"

"I hate to say it but we should surrender this battle. Zero will be allowed to fight again but in our current states, I doubt anyone of you can take him on," Nanashi inputted.

"Actually," "Leir" spoke up, "I would be more than happy to fight and kill him. However, I have two conditions. Upon my victory, I want guaranteed amnesty for all past, present, and future actions. Second, I want a fully equipped laboratory for my own personal use without regulation."

"You can't accept that," Ginta said.

"His crimes are too grave," Dorothy added.

Alviss nodded, "Even if we win this war, we can't allow a monster like him to walk free."

"But you don't have a choice," a voice called out from behind them. Everyone turned to see who the new speaker was.

As the man got closer, they can see the form of Lord Aris flanked by two guards. "Aris! You-" Alan took a step forward.

Lord Aris took one back and lifted both hands in a placating gesture. His two bodyguards held their swords tightly. Lord Aris nervously stated, "Now now Alan. I understand your anger but I obviously did not know Igor's history."

"You hired him," Alan accused.

Lord Aris frowned, "Yes but I was charmed by his talents in economics and technology. I gave him a year and he made my fiefdom one of the most prosperous in Mἅr heaven."

"He's lying. That worm," Dorothy hissed.

"He's still a lord. W can't touch him," Alviss pointed out when he saw Dorothy's fist clench.

Dorothy frowned, "I know but should I really be the one you're telling that to?"

Alviss frowned and looked at who Dorothy was pointing at. Ginta's fists were clenched and his eyes were livid. Alviss struggled to get up to stop Ginta if necessary. Luckily for him, Ginta stayed his hand.

"You lying sack of trash. I bet you knew from the start who he was but you hired him anyways," Ginta pointed directly at Aris.

Lord Aris looked indignant, something he was good at doing, "You again! I had hoped you would learn some manners but I suppose savages from other worlds are not capable of doing that. Now back to the matter at hand, I am afraid we must accept Igor's offer."

"You bastard. You're scheming something!" Ginta growled as he took a few steps forward only to have Jack hold him back. Jack shook his head and tightened his grip on Ginta's shoulder.

"I don't believe I understand Lord. Why should we accept this madman's deal?" Gaira inquired of him.

Lord Aris rubbed his growing beard, "Well, I believe that it is obvious isn't it? Our enemy is Caldia, not each other. Frankly, a man with the talents and abilities of Igor is better with us than against us."

"The king would never allow this," Alan warned.

"The king is not here. He is too busy handling other affairs. However, need I remind you all that our enemy is Caldia and her army when we are only ten strong?" Lord Aris spouted.

Alan's brow furrowed, "No but there is a fine line here."

"Let it go Alan," Ginta suddenly said.

Alan asked, "Ginta?"

Jack raised an eyebrow, "You alright man?"

Ginta nodded and shook off Jack's hand, "Yeah. I'm okay now Jack. Thanks."

"Leir" looked surprised, "Oh? Will you accept my proposal?"

"We will forget your past crimes but we will not allow you to carry on with your experiments. That is the most we will do," Ginta said.

"Leir" frowned, "That isn't the deal."

"Accept it or not. If you stay with us, we will guarantee your safety until the end of the War Games. If you choose to leave, then good luck dealing with both the Cross Guard and the Caldians," Ginta added.

"Leir" tensed but spoke deliberately, "Fine. But, for my services, I want the princess Snow's guardian Undine."

"No way," Ginta snapped.

"I am risking my life for this war. I should get something for my efforts," "Leir" argued.

Lord Aris nodded, "Alright. I'll make the arrangements."

"No!" Ginta protested.

"Silence brat. It was your idea. Remember?" Lord Aris hissed, "Now Igor, show us what you can do by taking down that brat there."

"Leir" smirked, "As you command, milord."


	19. The Three Elders

Sorry it took like a month even though I'm on break until today. This will conlcue this arc of the story. The next arc will be up sometime... after I'm doen with AP testing. College soon so I'm gonna try to tie up my loose ends with other stories and such. Then I'll finish this one. Thank you to all the people who has stuck with me until now. Last one guys. Enjoy.

Word Count- 3004

Disclaimer- My story not my manga

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There was a rumble up above and droplets of water were cascading over the spectators but they stayed anyways. This fight would be more important than any others thus far in this latest series of trials that the inhabitants of this heaven seemed to have to endure time and time again.

The final two competitors of the match stepped forward. Pozun had already made his announcement of who would be fighting and what the match would mean. Regardless of the victor, everyone on the Cross Guard would be allowed to participate in future matches. However, it was the eligibility of the one named Zero whom everyone's attention laid.

In the previous battle, he won with ease. All that was known about him were the two ἅrms that he employed. One was a dimension ἅrm that switches the place of the two fighters. The other ἅrm was a guardian with the ability to turn the opponent to dust.

On the other hand, there was Igor who has taken Leir's form. In his employ are the ἅrms that the deceased Leir had as well as his own. The key focus of the match laid not with the participants but on the aftermath that will follow. "Leir's" victory would mean the eventual relinquishing of her guardian. Zero's victory would mean one fewer piece to mobilize against the might of Caldia and the remaining Chess Pieces. It would be an even match, difficult for either side to win.

With those thoughts in mind, the spectators watched as "Leir" attacked first.

"Nature ἅrm Helper!" "Leir" declared, "Combined with my own Nature ἅrm Acid Serpent."

At his command, arms of bone and a serpent-like being made entirely of acid emerged. The hands rushed towards Zero. The serpent remained still, hovering almost directly above "Leir". As the hands reached Zero, suddenly the two fighters swapped places. The hands pummeled "Leir" instead. However, the serpent began moving as well and drenched Zero in its corrosive liquid. Zero began screaming.

The skeletal hands disappeared and "Leir" looked none the worse. "Leir" smirked, "I knew upon impact you would swap places with me. As long as the hands continue to attack me, you won't switch places. That left my serpent free to drench you in its acid. Oh and I modified this ἅrm as well. It has the ability to melt and destroy any ἅrm even that guardian of yours. Now. Let's see that ugly face of yours."

Although the mask did not break like "Leir" wanted, the rest of the robe was melted away to reveal Zero's form. A collective gasp can be heard. His arms were crossed over his chest, his hands rested on his shoulders, and his legs were crossed. His body was covered by something akin to, what Ginta remembered from his world, a straitjacket. There were weird symbols all over the white suit that Dorothy revealed were bindings. Chains were present with heavy black metal balls hanging from them. Zero looked like a condemned criminal ready to be executed. He was still screaming.

"No!" the Great Elder cried, "The seal must not be broken."

"Seal?" Ginta turned to him.

The Great Elder walked forward, "I must stop the match. Poz-"

His attempt was futile however, as the chains began breaking apart and the screams became louder and louder. The screams permeated the field and drowned out the words of everyone. The seals on the body began glowing brightly causing Zero to scream even louder in pain. Moments later, the seals' light started flickering and eventually died. The fabric was ripped apart revealing the form of the creature known as Zero.

His body was darkness. On his back were four devil-like wings. On his head two sheep-like horns emerged. His face was blank except for a mouth that seemed to be sewed together and then forced open. Its hands were claws that it used to scratch at its head. It had a tail resembling a lizard. Its continual roar began to echo back, doubling the volume. With rain pouring freely onto the people, Zero looked like the herald of death, sent to kill the people of this heaven once and for all.

"Leir", in vain, tried to attack the mass of darkness. He summoned out the skeletal giant Fibularais to crush the creature. A burst of darkness emerged from Zero's mouth and eradicated the skeletal guardian. Zero continued to attack the arena and its spectators with random streams of dark light.

Although Team Mἅr and the Cross Guard tried to help, they couldn't get near the monster. The Great Elder had disappeared since its awakening. Helpless, the two teams tried their best to mitigate the damage. However, with the injuries that Alan and Alviss sustained, they were unable to do much to help. Hyde and Gaira tried to evacuate the spectators while Team Mἅr tried to divert the beams. "Leir" had been hit by a wayward beam earlier and his body was torn in two.

Jack summoned forth large bean plants to block the beams but the beams tore through them easily. Dorothy tried to match beam with beam and summoned out her Scarecrow guardian. However, she was forced to abandon that plan when Zero matched the Scarecrow's attack head on and began to overpower the guardian. Nanashi and Galian attacked Zero directly but narrowly avoided death when Zero turned to attack them instead. Ginta stood by helplessly. He had lost Babbo in the ensuing panic and could not find the missing ἅrm. Babbo, for his part, was also trying to find Ginta.

When Zero appeared on the verge of killing the team, the Great Elder reappeared with three women. The women all had corresponding tattoos on their faces of different colors and symbols and cloaked in the same dark robes as the Great Elder.

One of the women was an amazon. She was almost seven foot tall and wore her long red in a braid. Her skin was a golden brown and her raging yellow eyes betrayed her calm demeanor. On her face was the mark of the red blade, the sign of Lachesis of the heavens.

The second woman had a blue spiral on her face. Her face was like a baby's except for her eyes. Like her face, her body was almost childlike. She was shorter than the average woman would be, no more than five feet tall. Like Lachesis, her eyes were fierce. However, there was an impermeable darkness within them. They were impossible to read.

The last cloaked figure, unlike the others, wore the hood. She was a little less than six foot tall. With the combination of hood and cloak however, nothing else can be seen of this person. However, where her face would be, there was a strange glow or aura emanating.

These three women gathered around the raging Zero in a triangular formation. Although it roared and tried to attack them, it would meet with an invisible barrier. The three women started a chant that sent chills down the remaining warriors and spectators in the stadium. Although they were saved by the arrival of these four figures, the unearthly chant seemed to resonate with some darker part of their psyche. Like their feelings toward "Leir's" abomination, this chant seemed perverse and wrong.

The chant grew stronger. The beast roared louder and made an even greater effort to break through the invisible barrier that is trapping it. Soon, strange characters of an indecipherable script appeared from the women's mouths. These words floated through the air, pierced the invisible barrier, and began spinning around the dark beast. Zero fell to its knees, howling in pain as if some invisible force was holding it down. The characters ceased their rotation as the women stopped their chanting and enclosed on the monster. The monster's screech reverberated through the souls of the people present but even that screech died down as the characters fused themselves with its body. It slowly collapsed into a heap and the cloaked woman lifted her hand, revealing an armlet that ran to her middle finger and three rings each on her index, ring, and middle fingers. Zero flashed bright white for a second before it disappeared.

The Great Elder, silent throughout the entire event, spoke, "My apologies inhabitants of Mἅr heaven. Our (Caldia's) warrior appeared to have not been well disciplined as of yet. In order to promote the fairness of the Games, we will withdraw our fighter."

Alan ran up to the Great Elder and lifted him up by his robes, "Many have died because of this warrior of yours. You think we can be satisfied with this alone?"

"This is all we can do. Any prolonging of this war will only allow both sides to accumulate more military force and more lives will be lost as a result. Caldia attempted to finish the war earlier with only our most accomplished warriors and by taming a monster. That monster had broken loose but we have reestablished our hold on him. Both sides have lost strength because of him," the Great Elder calmly explained.

"Bastard. None of your people were here," Alan accused.

The Great Elder lifted the sleeves of his robe. His left arm was horribly burned and shriveled like a husk. Alan could tell that, even with healing, it may never work again.

The Great Elder spoke evenly, "I underestimated its might. I sent out three dozen Caldian warriors to subdue the monster and retrieve him. They all perished. Then I went to fight it alone. In my carelessness, it burned my arm and ripped through my body. Before it can finish me, the three ladies appeared and subdued him."

Alan let him go, "Why didn't they warn you? One of them is called the "seer". She should have been able to tell you what would happen."

"It was fated for those men to die. It was fated for the Great Elder to fight and lose. And it was fated that Zero would break free of his bindings and wreak havoc before we can finally interfere," the one with the blue spiral said. Her voice was like cotton candy, smooth and light even in the face of the tragedy of the day.

"Fate will not be denied," added Lachesis. Unlike the woman with the spiral, she sounded truly sorry for the lives lost.

"Screw fate. People died whose lives could have been saved by your intervention," Ginta jumped in.

"Foolish child. Mortals can speak such foolishness only because they cannot comprehend the meanings behind the existences of life and death. One life, one hundred lives, a billion. Lives have been lost over the centuries humans have existed and will continually be lost. What are a few hundred deaths to us?" the hooded figure chided. The voice, like the persona, was undecipherable. It was both man and woman and never the same two voices. The voice was neither heavy nor light, neither monotone nor vibrant, and neither happy nor sad. It was a voice tinged with the wisdom of one who had lived for countless eons.

Ginta, for his short sixteen years of life, found he was unable and unwilling to do anything in front of this impressive figure. His lungs felt constricted. It was hard to breathe. His muscles were tightened. Though they were burning, he felt unable to relax them. His shoulders were tense. His eyes were dilated. Sweat poured from all over his body. His face was turning pale. It was fear. Absolute fear. This was the first time Ginta felt so afraid. Even against the "King", he felt confident about winning and saving the world. Against this person, he felt completely powerless. Insignificant.

Then a hand rested on his shoulder and he turned his head.

The Great Elder saw what was happening to Ginta Toramizu. It happened for everyone that stood before Atropos and did not submit immediately. Though Atropos was his ally and longtime friend, he agreed with what Ginta was saying and couldn't allow the boy to suffer before he even fought in the war.

"That's enough Atropos. Let him be," the Great Elder spoke, quietly but firmly.

The two had a stare-off for a moment before Atropos nodded her head and vanished. The Great Elder heaved a sigh of relief. Ginta dropped to the ground, gasping for air. The Great Elder patted his shoulder and walked back to Alan.

"In three months' time, we will continue this war. For now, please, take the time to bury and honor your dead. For this entire mess, our apologies," the Great Elder bowed his head and vanished.

The other two women were about to vanish as well when Dorothy and Alviss came charging up to them.

"Wait!" Dorothy cried. She pointed at the woman with the blue spiral, "I know- No I don't- wait- yes I do. Aggghhhhh." Dorothy screamed and clutched her head as she sank to her knees on the ground.

Alviss went to her, "Are you okay?"

Dorothy started to lash out at him. Her eyes were a beautiful blood red that glinted in the rain. Alviss took an elbow to his jaw and he grimaced. He managed to bind both her arms behind her back causing her to screech with fury.

The woman with the blue spiral walked forward and touched Dorothy's forehead with her index. "Don't you touch her!" Alviss cried as released Dorothy to shove the woman back. Ginta and Alan joined him.

The woman with the blue spiral sighed and walked towards the now scrambling Dorothy who is trying to crawl away. Alviss tried to intercept but found he couldn't move. Neither Alan nor Ginta could move either.

"Children should not interrupt their elders," the woman with the blue spiral said, "Now Dorothy," she kicked the girl onto her back, "you've been a lot of trouble for me," her eyes were still unreadable but there was a light of love or amusement in them, "but it can't be helped. You take after your mother after all," she bent to touch her forehead with her palm and Dorothy shuddered before falling asleep, "but you don't need to remember me yet. Your memory doesn't need to return. No. I wish it will never return but for the sake of our family and home, we will meet again."

She vanished before anyone can ask her anything, leaving Lachesis. Lachesis bowed and said, "I'm sorry." She too vanished.

When Clotho, for the others' names were already said, vanished, whatever spell she had on Alan and the others was gone as well. Dorothy was still asleep, dreaming about some faraway memory.

By this time, Nanashi, Galian, Jack, and the others have caught up to them. Babbo muttered his regret and apologies for being lost. Ginta did the same.

"It can't be helped. Three months for funeral, regret, lamentation, anger, and hatred. But it is also three months of growth, rebirth, and renewal. We should know," Nanashi said to Galian's agreement. They had already been through this once. The second time is easier. Not good but easier.

"Back to the training gates?" Ginta inquired.

Jack was the first to shake his head, "Sorry guys but I feel useless. The plants that I used my magical power to create were torn apart like paper," he clenched his right fist, "I'll be back but there is someone I have to see. He is the only one who could help me."

"I agree with Jack. Gymnote was destroyed in the struggle. I will need a new guardian at least as powerful as he was. I only know of one other and I'm going to it. Galian is going with me," Nanashi said.

"I would love to train but Alan and I need to oversee efforts to rebuild Reginlief and minimize the uncertainty and chaos that is threatening to happen amongst the populace," Gaira sighed, "Boring work compared to what you all need to do."

"I have questions for my father that I need an answer about. Plus," Hyde took out a large capsule that had some sort of slime in it.

The slime yelled, "What are you looking at?"

"Is that-" Ginta asked.

Hyde nodded apologetically, "Igor. He ran before he could be killed and tried to hide. I'm sorry I didn't help much in the fight against Zero but I felt that he was a bigger priority and captured him."

"No. You did well. We weren't able to do anything as a team. Even with one more person, I doubt we could have done anything to that monster," Alan gravely stated.

Hyde nodded his understanding that Alan was not insulting him but stating a fact, "I will take him with me since he is now technically in our employ. Besides," his eyes darkened, "I don't want my father to dodge responsibility. With this in his face, he can't."

"Very well but be careful," Gaira said.

Ginta turned to Alviss, "What about you?"

Alviss frowned, "I need to uncover whatever it means about Abaoqu and its power. Otherwise, I'll lose like the last time."

"I can help if you like. There is a guardian of mine that is insufferable and your help would be nice," Dorothy joined in.

"Dorothy. You're awake," Ginta smiled.

Dorothy hugged him, "Yes Ginta. It's good to be back."

"What happened?" Alviss asked.

"Nothing. All I remember is Zero. Did we take him down?" Dorothy asked, suddenly worried.

Alviss slowly said, "I'll tell you later."

Dorothy shrugged like she didn't have a care in the world, "Okay."

"What should I do then?" Ginta asked.

"There is someone who wants to see you and Babbo. Decide from there," Alan said as he jerked a thumb in the direction of the castle ruins.

Ginta nodded and left with Babbo. Everyone else departed as well. In three months' time, they will all meet again.

"You must be Ginta. My name is Kai. I'm going to help you," Kai said. Greda was at his side, beaming.


End file.
